


Lalli as a cowboy (written by someone who knows nothing about cowboys)

by Windfighter



Category: Stand Still Stay Silent
Genre: Camp Nanowrimo, Cowboy AU, Gen, no beta we publish our first drafts like men
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-01
Updated: 2018-07-30
Packaged: 2019-05-31 20:03:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 24,387
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15126863
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Windfighter/pseuds/Windfighter
Summary: Lalli is a cowboy! He owns a large piece of land in the middle of nowhere in an unnamed country. Apart from that the author has no idea what'll happen.





	1. In which we mostly set up the stage

**Author's Note:**

> Welp, Camp NaNo surprised me and I didn't have any idea so this year I'm 100% pantser. A minnion suggested I write about Lalli as a cowboy so HERE WE ARE!
> 
> First chapter is mostly a description of the land and Lalli's house and there's a TL;DR at the end so you can skip the read if you want to!

**Chapter 1**

In which we mostly set up the stage

Lalli lived in a small house in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by acres of land passed down in his family through at least two generations. The house was made from wood, had a kitchen, a living room and a bedroom. The bedroom, of course, was the smallest of the rooms and only contained a bed and a small table. The bed hadn't been used for years since Lalli prefered to sleep under it, but it was still expertly made and he changed the sheets at least once a week because only savages skip making their bed. A small picture of Lalli, Tuuri and Onni hung on the wall above the table. Lalli rarely looked at it, it was Tuuri who had put it there last time she came to visit. The door into the room battled regulary with the bed about movement area, which had left the door damaged, as well as the leg of the bed that was closest to the door. The bedroom was the most recent addition to the house and whoever had built it clearly meant for it to be for shorter people.

The living room on the other hand was large and served as a bedroom when more than one person inhabited the house. It was remarkable empty, but there was a couch next to the wall, a table infront of the couch and a carpet under the table. The skeleton of a cow skull hung above the entrance door. His grandmother had put it there long ago, he couldn't remember if it had been an important or a vicious cow. The living room was the only room with painted walls, a white color that had turned yellowish with the passage of time. More pictures hung on the walls there, his parents, his grandparents, his cousins, their parents. A large picture from a birthday party when Lalli was young. It had been the only time their whole family had been gathered. Every now and then Lalli took down all those pictures, but they were up again the next day when he realized Tuuri would get sad if he didn't have them up. There had been more couches in the living room, but they had either broken down and gotten used as fire wood during the coldest nights or been sold as family members moved away from the house. There was also a small, white bureau next to the door to the bedroom where Lalli kept all his clothes. And of course, the obligatory fireplace next to the couch. It was rarely used, Lalli had never been good at starting fires and only bothered with it during the coldest nights. Which was part of why he had moved the couch to face the entrance instead of the fire place. It was simple enough to move back if he ever felt like it.

The kitchen was on the opposite side of the house from the bedroom, it had a stove with two hotplates and an oven beneath. There was a small fridge, but lots of cupboards, a sink and a countertop where he could prepare food. The cupboards were filled with plates and glasses and cutlery and other things Lalli had no clue what it was used for but never got around to getting rid off. In the cupboard next to the stove he stored pans and pots and other things he used with the stove and oven. There was a window above the stove because back when the house was built kitchen fans weren't invented. No one had installed one in the house either since it had a window which served the same function.

There was another room attatched to the house, but you had to go out in order to get into it. It was used as storage, and it was in there all the pictures ended up every time Lalli took them down. Apart from that the room was empty, except from the wasps that had built a nest in there. They didn't bother Lalli so he let them stay.

Infront of the house was the obligatory porch, made of wood and with a hammock as well s two wooden chairs and a table on it. A windtorn green tablecloth was held in place with some nails after Lalli had gotten it in his face a couple too many times. The roof of the house was covered in solar panels, which let Lalli make his own electricity instead of hooking up to the nearest line that was far outside his lands. He didn't need much of it, only enough to keep the fridge and the freezer running. Onni had been the one helping him fix it only a few years ago, before that there had been no electricity at all.

The outhouse was placed hundred meters from the back of main building. It was small, hot and stinky. Unless he had to, Lalli usually took care of his business elsewhere. He made sure to keep it free of wasps though, because he was fairly certain anyone visiting him wouldn't like doing their business with wasps hovering around them. There was a small path leading from the outhouse to the front of the house. There wasn't anything else of interest in the garden behind the house, lots of grass and flowers and three beehives. Lalli never went into that grass and didn't cut it until the end of the season. It was perfect winter fodder for his cattle. The grass stretched for another twenty meters past the outhouse, and was lined with apple trees at the end. On the other side of the apple trees lay a wast field on which he let the cows roam freely.

There was a small vegetable garden just outside the kitchen window where he grew some, well, vegetables. The three beehives were placed close to the garden just to increase the chance of pollination. There was another vegetable garden infront of the house where he grew herbs and some extra tomatoes. It took care of itself pretty well after he had started it in the spring so he didn't have to think about it during his daily chores. The grass infront of the house was cut short to discourage ticks and to easier spot anyone approaching his house. One of his ten cats liked to patroll the grass in search of mice or cuddles. The grass didn't stretch far, and one spot been grinded down to dirt and covered in gravels. Any visitor with a car used that spot as a parking lot. There was also a well close to the porch so he didn't have to go far when he needed water.

On one side of the front yard was a barn, where he kept his cows during the cold months. It was slightly small for his 72 cows, especially now that 20 of them had gotten calves, but there was another barn-like building out on the field where the cows went for cover during storms. He had already started work to turn it into something more fitting to house cows, but it was still lots of work to be done. There was a loft inside the barn where he kept winter fodder, which at least five of his cats used as sleeping spot.

Opposite of the barn was the stable. He had two horses, one for himself and one for Tuuri when she visited him. Onni had never liked riding. Behind the stable was a pasture for the horses to graze on and during the warmer months they spent all their time there, apart from when Lalli needed them for work. One of the shorter walls inside the stable served as a toolshed. It was't organized but Lalli could always find whatever he needed in the chaos. Two of the ten boxes were filled with planks for him to use for building, his neighbours dumped them there whenever they got some they didn't need. One of the boxes was filled with bricks. It had been Onni's idea that he started saving up on those as well because ”you never know when it'll be useful”. Lalli didn't disgree and Onni had been talking about helping him build a grill using some of them. Two of the boxes were for the horses, and he kept another two free incase his neighbours used their horses instead of car when they came over. The box farthest from the horses was filled with hay and in the box next to it was a barrel filled with oats. The last box was currently empty and dirty and he still hadn't decided what to use it for, although Tuuri had more than once suggested chickens. She had already somehow convinced him to get a couple of sheeps.

The sheeps lived in one of the many fields he had split his land in using different types of fences. Tuuri and Onni had helped him build a house for them to hide in during cold and rainy days. The river that went through his lands passed right through the sheepfold and always provided them with water. The cows obviously had the largest area to wander around, which stretched from the large road outside his lands, up to the barn, past it and all the way across the river and behind the appletrees. The horses' pasture where just outside the stable and didn't have access to the river, but Lalli always made sure they had fresh water. Between the horses and the road grew several different fruit trees. They gave him extra food without much need for care and shielded the horses from the traffic rushing past. The cows didn't have as much protection, but even in their pasture there was some trees to shield them. On the land he had left he grew grass for winter fodder and every fall his neighbours helped him cut it. He also had a small field with oats and another with corn behind the sheepfold, but mostly he got such things from his neighbours in exchange of milk and beef and the occassional wool from the sheep.

With the sun rising over the country it was time for Lalli to start his day.

 

(to round off the chapter, some quick sketches over Lalli's land in case the descriptions above were too much to read, obviously not to scale)

 


	2. In which we get to follow Lalli during a regular day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lalli goes about his business, talks to his neighbours, don't talk to their kids and finds a cat in his future barn.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter that mostly sets the story up. Nothing very exciting happens, you only get to learn how a normal day in Lalli's cowboy-life looks.  
>  ~~I have no idea how a cowboy's life looks~~

The sunlight woke Lalli up. Not because it could find him where he was sleeping under the bed, but because the bedroom got brighter. For the 100th time he considered moving the bed into the living room instead, but decided against it. The bedroom was a good room for sleeping after all. He stretched, rolled out from under the bed and almost hit his head on the table's leg. Perhaps next year he should try to make the bedroom slightly bigger. Maybe. He got up from the floor, pushed his cover under the bed and left the bedroom. Clothes were in the bureau next to the bedroom door and he dressed in his regular jeans, a plaid shirt and black socks. After pulling his fingers through his hair two times he decided he was presentable enough and went into the kitchen.

Bread and jam was in the cupboard next to the fridge and he ate it together with a glass of milk. It only took him five minutes and gave him plenty of time to refill the cats' water and food bowls. He put on his boots and his hat, grabbed a bag with cat-food and went out to the porch. Three of the cats stood there meowing and Lalli gave them their food. While they ate he looked at the sky, nodded to himself. It would be another hot day. The trees next to the pasture gave the horses some shadow but he should look into either getting one of those white tent-like things Tuuri had talked about once or put together something that could provided better shadow for them. He put the bag of food back in its place and went down to the well to get some water. They were starting to running low, maybe it was time to make an offering to the gods for some rain. He glanced at the sky again. It'd be fine for another few days, but after that... At least the river hadn't dried out yet, eventhough it had gotten smaller than usually this time of year. The cats ignored the water and went about their business instead and he guessed they got enough water from whatever animals they managed to catch.

After filling the horses' water trough he called for his horse, Poku, an American Paint Horse who was chestnut colored with white patches. Lalli brushed Poku while he drank and then saddled him. He led Poku through the stable, closed the door to the pasture behind them and continued through the barn before he sat up.

”Time to go to work.”

Poku neighed. He knew their usual route and Lalli didn't have to do much guiding. The area closest to the barn was completely void of cows and Lalli opened the gate to the milking area before letting Poku lead him towards the river. The cows looked lazily at them when they came and Lalli let Poku drink from the river and eat some grass before going to work. Poku was quick, but Lalli was certain the cows willingness to get milked helped a lot when it came to leading them to the milking area. It took half an hour to round all 72 (plus the 20 calves) up. They grazed while he milked them. One at the time and the one he was done with he let out of the milking area so he wouldn't try to milk them twice. Poku followed him when he carried the milk into the barn where he dumped it into the milk-container. The cows had already disappeared back to the river.

Poku waited near the well while Lalli watered his two vegetable gardens and then the two of them went over to Lalli's neighbours. Lalli's closest neighbours was a family with three kids, but the kids were more often than not away in the city with friends or in school. He had tried to babysit for them once, but it had been a disaster and their parents agreed with him that for everyone's sake they should never do it again. The kids weren't badly behaved, Lalli simply had no clue how children worked and what he was supposed to do with them. The grown-ups were a lot easier to socialize with. The man was tall and had a steady build and, while slightly more talkative than Lalli knew that it wasn't necessary to talk for the sake of talking. He had dark-brown hair and a bushy beard and dressed in torn jeans, cowboyboots and the obligatory cowboy hat. The woman was slightly shorter than Lalli, slightly rounder and was currently pregnant with their fourth kid. She often wore brightly colored dresses and a gray apron with a large pocket she could put eggs or animal fodder or tools in. She waved at him as he approached.

”Ready to help with the cows?”

Lalli nodded. They only had five cows and one bull, but they were wilder than Lalli's and had a habit of running around the man when he tried to round them up.

”They're out in the regular field. George is waiting for you there. How are your calves?”

”Fine.”

Lalli turned Poku towards the regular field and the woman laughed.

”We're still waiting for Rose to give birth. And me”, she patted her stomach. ”We have lots of chickens this year though, and the rabbits have breed like crazy. The kids are happy though. I told them the rabbits were their responsibility this year. It they take good care of them maybe I'll let them keep one or two as pets.”

Lalli groaned inwards, but nodded.

”George told me 'Mary, we can't let them keep any, we're selling them at the market', but there are so many this year, one or two less for the market can't do any harm. Not with all the chickens. You bringing your cows to the market?”

”Mf.”

”You won't have much problem selling them this year, I went to the town last week, a lot or ranchers need new blood to their lifestock. Any of them bulls?”

”Seven.”

”They'll go like a hot knife through butter, believe me. We could use a new cow as well, wanna trade one of your calves for some chickens?”

Lalli shrugged and she patted Poku's neck.

”You think about it. I can throw some rabbits in as well. You should look into getting another sheep or a ram.”

”Hmf.”

”Keeping some calves for yourself this year?”

”If they don't sell. I should... George.”

”Yeah, you're right. Sorry for talking at you again.”

”'s okay.”

He lifted his hand to the brim of his hat before leaving for the cows. George lifted his hand in greeting but didn't say anything. The two of them already knew what needed to be done. Even with two of them herding the cattle it still took almost an hour to get them into the milking area. Mary took care of the milking, and have even forbidden Lalli to ever again offer to help so Lalli said good bye and went back to his own house. It was already lunchtime when he came back and he let Poku out in the pasture again. The fridge was almost empty and he didn't feel like going back to his neighbours to ask for eggs and some of the meat he stored in one of their freeze boxes. Instead he took some bread and yam again and sat in the hammock on the porch eating it. His one black cat, Sissi, came up and lied down beside him. Glancing at her she seemed to be pregnant. Again.

”I can't let you keep them this time.”

She meowed and the discussion was over. He'd have to figure out what to do about the kittens once it was time. He really should have her neutered already. He had been lucky the previous times, George and Mary had taken some of the kittens, Tuuri had wanted one and had helped him find buyers for most of the others, plus his other neighbours had also taken one kitty each.

”Maybe you can keep them until they're old enough, if Tuuri agrees to help find homes to them.”

Sissi meowed again and Lalli figured there was no need to keep the conversation going. He leaned back in the hammock. It was almost a month to the big market. He would keep one calf himself, but the rest of the lot he hoped he would be able to sell. Maybe he'd buy a freezer box for the money he'd make. That way he wouldn't need to store food over at George and Mary's farm. He'd decide when the market was over and he knew how much he had gotten from the calves. He needed to get some new tools as well.

The milktruck arrived in the early afternoon to collect the milk he had gathered during the morning. Lalli didn't need to do anything, the workers already knew where everything was and they knew a lot better than Lalli what they were supposed to do. Mary and George kept what little milk they got to make butter and cheese, but Lalli didn't know how to do that and didn't feel the need to learn and instead sold his milk directly. While the milkmen worked Lalli brushed Tuuri's horse, a chestnut colored Finnhorse named Kirsikankukka. The moment he was done she rolled around in the dirt again and he shook his head. Maybe he should just leave cleaning Kirsikankukka for when Tuuri was actually coming over. Poku came up to him and he saddled the stallion before they made their afternoon round across the land.

Lalli and Poku stopped by the sheep first. They had water thanks to the river so Lalli didn't have to carry that all the way from the well. The river also helped the grass around it grow, meaning there was lots of food for his two sheep. He still stopped by every day just to check so they were feeling okay and that they hadn't somehow managed to graze away all the grass. They baa'd at him as he and Poku arived and came up to the fence incase he had any treats with him. Tuuri always brought treats when she followed him around the land and they had learned to expect it from those times.

”I'm not her, you should know that by now.”

They baa'd disappointedly and went back to grazing. Poku and Lalli continued past the sheepfold to check on the corn and oats Lalli was growing behind them. They were getting dry and Lalli jumbed off Poku, tied him to a wagon he had next to the corn and went back to the river. The wagon was packed full of buckets to carry water in and he filled them up while Poku cooled his hooves in the river. They went back, Lalli emptied most of the buckets over the oats and corn-field, took the wagon off Poku and put it back inbetween the two fields where it was mostly shadow apart from the middle of the day. He wiped the sweat of his forehead before climbing back on Poku's back. Poku took him towards the cows, who had taken cover from the heat in the river and under the trees next to it. They stared lazily at Lalli and he didn't stop to check on them. They had been fine when he had seen them during the morning and if they got hurt they usually made a lot more noise than the chewing sounds they were currently making.

They continued around the cow pasture, scared away a couple of wild dogs who had gotten a little too close to the pasture and met Mary and George's kids when they reached the road. Poku slowed his walk and let the kids pet him while they told Lalli about everything they had learned in school and had seen in the city. Lalli tuned them out almost instantly, but kept them company until they run off to their parents. Sissi and another of his cats, Viiru, appeared the moment the kids disappeared and followed him to the stable. Sissi ran off to catch a mouse but Viiru stayed near Lalli and watched as he took the saddle off Poku and brushed the horse. When Lalli was done Viiru jumped from the edge of the box to Poku's back and rolled into a ball. Viiru often rested on Poku's back, so Lalli only led the horse out where Kirsikankukka was waiting.

For dinner he took the couple of eggs he found in the back of his fridge together with some freshly picked tomatoes from his garden and the last piece of meat he had. Tomorrow he would need to go over to George and Mary to fetch some more meat and maybe a couple of eggs. He'd bring some milk along because he knew the kids loved it and everything they got from their own cows got used for cheese and butter so Mary was always happy when he offered gave them some extra. After he had eaten he took care of the dishes before he went to the house in the cow pasture.

The house wasn't very big, maybe enough to house twenty cows, and had gotten damaged by winds and heavy rains through the years. He didn't know what it had been for originally, neither his parents nor his grandparents had ever used it for anything, and he didn't really need it for anything either. So he had decided to fix it up so he could house some extra cows and they could have somewhere to go when the weather got too horrible for them to be outside. Onni and Poku had already helped him move several planks over there so he didn't need to carry as much when he decided to work on it. Nails and hammer were also already there, he had gotten an extra just so it wouldn't matter if he ever forgot it there when he went back home in the evening. It was slowly starting to look like a normal building, he had fixed the holes in the roof and the walls and given it a door. This day he focused on the first box. He had measured it out the previous day, dug some markings in the ground, but today he actually dug out the places where the planks were going to go.

When he had worked for an hour he heard meowing coming from a corner of the house. He put the shovel next to the wall, stretched and went over to check what it was. Five kittens were cuddled together on a pile of dried grass. As he stood watching them one of his neighbour's cats came inside, hissed at him and got between him and the kittens.

”They're yours I assume. This isn't your territory, you know.”

The cat laid down by its kittens and they started fighting about the best place for feeding. Lalli crossed his arms over his chest.

”Your owner will get upset if you take mice here instead of at their farm.”

The neighbour that owned this particular cat didn't have a very large farm and mostly grew potatoes, but instead had a lot of mice and rats running around on their grounds. At least with five extra cats they might finally get the mice-infestation under control. Lalli let out a sigh, he'd had to go over to them tomorrow and tell them were their cat was. He went back to working on the box, but it was getting darker and after yet another hour the light inside the house was terrible enough that he couldn't continue working. He put the tools away and went back home, refilled the cats' water bowls and gave them some extra food. He also checked to see if Poku and Kirsikankukka had water, noticed it was running low and refilled there as well.

With his chores done he grabbed a pack of cookies from the pantry and sank down in the couch. Sissi came and kept him company while he swung quietly and nibbled on the cookies. He lit a candle when the sun started going down, but stayed outside for a while longer. Another two of his cat ran inside the house, Viiru also came and begged Lalli for some cookie and Lalli shared a small piece with him. His biggest cat, a gray, longhaired male named Puma, arrived as well. In his mouth hung a large rat which he proudly dropped in Lalli's lap. Lalli gave Puma a quick pat, then put the rat on the floor instead. One of the cats would eat it sooner or later.

When the sun disappeared behind the horizon and night fell Lalli got up from the hammock and went back inside, closing the door behind him. Viiru followed him inside and he pulled off his clothes, put them away and went into the bedroom. The door hit the bed as he opened it and he let out a sigh. One day he would learn to not open the door that much. Viiru jumped onto the bed and Lalli slid down under it.

”Good night, Viiru.”

Viiru meowed and Lalli pulled the cover over himself and closed his eyes. Tomorrow would be another regular day, just the way he liked it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Obviously tomorrow _won't_ be just a regular day but I'm not gonna spoil more than that we'll get to meet a familiar face!


	3. In which Lalli gets invited to a party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lalli is going about his day when he meets a red-head on a very large horse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woop, somewhat short chapter this time. I could have made it longer but decided split it into two. I never really meant for the chapters to be as long ("long") as the first two anyway. But, I dunno, Maybe the following chapters'll be even longer. Who can tell? Not me, that's who!

The day started out normally enough. Lalli had breakfast, fed the cats, rounded up the cattle and milked them. When he was going over to Mary and George to help with their cows he spotted a woman on a black Shire Horse riding his way.

”Howdy cowboy!” the woman greeted.

She was tall, he could tell. Red hair showed beneath the hat, framed her sharp chin. Not quite as sharp as Lalli's was, but not far from it. She seemed strong, but that could just be because the large horse under her. Lalli nodded to acknowledge her and she rode closer.

”There's a rodeo in town tonight, I'm rounding up all the cowboys 'round here for it. What do you say, up for testing your riding skills?”

Lalli stared at her, tried to determine if she was serious. She kept grinning and he shrugged.

”If there's time.”

He lightly tapped his heels into Poku's sides and the stallion started walking again. The large horse walked beside him and Lalli felt unusually small next to it.

”It'll be great”, the woman continued. ”We're gonna have contests, barbeque, bulls and carousels.”

Lalli reached to his back to see if there was a sign there that said ”talk to me”, but there wasn't. The woman kept talking and he tuned her out, thinking she'd leave when they reached the road, but instead she followed him over to Mary and George.

”Howdy pardner!”

Mary looked in awe as the large horse approached her.

”H-howdy!”

”Name's Sigrun”, Sigrun never stopped grinning. ”There's a rodeo in the town tonight, I'd be delighted if ye came ov'r to wet yer whistle or shake yer legs in the hoedown.”

”I'd have to ask George first.”

”Great, I'll see y'all there then!”

Sigrun lifted her hand to the brim of her hat, nodded and then she was off. Lalli and Mary looked after her in silence until she had disappeared up the road.

”Who was that?” Mary turned to Lalli. ”I've never seen her before. You'd think one would remember a horse like _that_. ”

Lalli shrugged.

”Just met her. Must be a city-slicker.”

”Did you hear how she spoke? Does anyone even speak like that today?”

Lalli shrugged again, he didn't speak with enough people to be able to tell. Mary shook her head and turned to Lalli with a smile.

”I'll follow you to George today.”

It was a waste of time but he knew better than try to argue with her. He listened with half an ear as she talked about the kids and their latest adventures in the city and the mess they had made in the stable the prior day.

”Hey George”, Mary greeted when they reached her husband. ”There's a rodeo tonight, should we take the kids there? Let them ride a bull or two and let off some steam. Maybe then we'd manage to keep the stable intact this year.”

George looked slightly stumped and Lalli let himself into the pasture.

”I guess we could. How 'bout you, Lalli? You going?”

”If I finish in time.”

”Responsible as always”, Mary teased. ”We know you're quick with your tasks, so I expect to see you there. It'll be fun! Who knows, maybe you'll even meet a lady there.”

George coughed and Mary blushed.

”Or a gentleman, I don't judge.”

Lalli raised an eyebrow. He wasn't interesting in finding anyone, he'd only go for the riding contests, but there was little idea trying to explain that to Mary. As long as she didn't try to actively set him up with someone he deemed it harmless, if annoying. George waved her off and he Lalli set off to gather the cows. It took even longer than usual today, Lalli was pretty certain he did it on purpose to avoid the rodeo but couldn't tell for certain. Mary reminded him about the rodeo again as he left.

He really tried dragging out on his chores, really tried doing all of them as slowly as possible,, but somehow he got done quicker than usually. He looked towards the sky, put his hands to his sides.

”If you're making me go I hope you'll at least reward me with some rain tomorrow.”

He saddled Kirsikankukka after deciding that Poku had done enough running around already today and then he was off. He had, after all, made a vague promise to show up.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, with other SSSS-characters showing up it's probably time to start thinking about eventual pairings and stuff. Taking all suggestions/requests!  
> I have some vague ideas in the case I turn this into Another Emil/Lalli-story, but the plothole is still undug so Anything can still happen!
> 
> ...And of course Sigrun has a Shire Horse. It can't do to give her anything other than (one of) the largest breed!


	4. In which Lalli meets a potential new boyfriend, part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bull- and bronc riding starts off the rodeo. Lalli isn't participating, he can't. Not after the other times. Instead he's forced to watch when everyone else gets thrown off. Which, honestly, isn't really that interesting. But maybe this new person he meets can make it better?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hnn, this chapter turned _really long_ so I had to split it. Again. Chapter name is inspired by a Dolly Parton song (Potential new boyfriend), but the chapter itself has very little with the song to do.
> 
> Oh and I guess it's worth noting that just as I know nothing about cowboys, I also know nothing about rodeos. so yeah. Sorry in advance for all thing that's off!

The town were the rodeo was held wasn't very big. It had a grocery store, a saloon, two pizzerias, a postal office, a bank, enough houses to house the town's 200 inhabitants and, of course, the combined market/rodeo-area. There was also a bed and breakfast-place that was vacant most of the time but filled up whenever there was a market going on, and a busstation that took people to the city further away. The grocery store was well-stocked for it's size, which was small, and got a lot of its stock from the local farms and ranchs. The saloon was overstocked compared to the amount of people going to it, but had a cozy atmosphere and a stage for any cowboy who wanted to perform. Every now and then a band from the city came to play, but it was mostly the locals. The pizzerias both had the same small sample of pizzas, but were never empty. The postal office and the bank were in the same building, one of the larger buildings in town, but were deserted most of the time. Lalli had never seen anyone except the workers in there.

Onni lived in one of the houses there. He was the town's handyman, didn't have an actual employment but always had work to do. Lalli stopped by a couple of times each month to see him, but most of the time Onni came over to the ranch instead. Tuuri had moved to the city a couple years ago, but often spent the weekends either with Onni or Lalli. Her horse had stayed on the farm since she couldn't bring it to the city, it wouldn't be a good enviroment for her.

Lalli and Kirsikankukkan rode through the town. It was quiet now, empty of people, but he could here distant noise from the area where the rodeo was. Kirsikankukkan got nervous from the sounds and Lalli patted her neck to calm her down. She didn't respond as well as Poku, but she was less used to the town. She only went there when Tuuri was visiting and they needed to go to the store, something that rarely happened since they could always go to Mary and George if they needed more eggs, or he decided to take her instead of Poku to the market. He considered changing his habits for a second, but stopped in his thought-process as he spotted Tuuri running towards him.

”Kikka!” she hugged the horse before turning to Lalli. ”Hey Lalli, here for the rodeo?”

”Mf.”

There really wasn't anything else to do in the town so it was a stupid question. He slid down from Kirsikankukka's back and handed the reins to Tuuri, who led her slightly away from the crowded area and tied her to a tree with some grass around.

”I'll go fetch a bucket of water for you.”

She patted Kirsikankukka before walking back into the crowd. Lalli followed her, not really sure where else to go.

”Onni is here as well, he's helping them fix one of the trucks. The bull kicked through the side of it”, she gestured vaguely towards the parking lot and Lalli nodded. ”He'll be busy for a while, but he says he'll find us when he's done. There's gonna be a dance in a couple of hours if you're up for going to that?”

Lalli shrugged. Tuuri waved to someone she knew from back when she lived there as well but didn't leave Lalli to talk with them.

”I guess you're mostly interested in the contests? You participating?”

Lalli shook his head. He had tried once, but it had been boring for everyone involved. Most animals calmed down when he handled them, which meant that whatever bull or bucking horse he was supposed to be thrown off from just... gave up on that and let him ride them. Meaning the one time he had attempted it he had sat down on the bull, waited for the door to open and when it did the bull who had been absolutely rampant just a few minutes earlier walked out into the paddock, walked around it and then returned to the box without even a half-hearted attempt at throwing Lalli off. He still watched the bull riding and the bronc riding, eventhough he couldn't participate, and sometimes participated in the breakaway roping. He also participated in the pole bending and barrel racing competitions the few times those were held.

Tuuri nudged his side. She had found a bucket and filled it with water. He followed her back to Kirsenkankukka and Tuuri put the bucket down. She talked quietly with her horse as it drank and then the two of them went back again. Lalli heard cheering and yelling from one of the paddocks, the bull riding had started. Tuuri grabbed his arm and dragged him over there, pushed him through the crowd up to the fence.

”I shouldn't be up here”, Lalli commented.

He knew how the animals got when he was close. Tuuri waved his argument away and leaned to the fence. Lalli glanced towards the box. Sigrun was sitting on the bull, grinning. Her mouth moved, he was certain she was telling them to just let the bull out already. Three, two one, and then the door opened. The bull kicked, ran, reared, but she hung on, still grinning.

”She's just showing off”, a voice said. ”I could do it better.”

Lalli ignored the voice, wondered once again if he somehow looked like someone who wanted to be talked at, but Tuuri turned towards the person.

”You sure? It's a lot harder than it looks.”

”It can't be that hard if she managed. I mean, look at her, you can't take her seriously.”

Lalli went closer to the fence and looked at Sigrun. The person was actually kind of correct. While her clothes _could_ be described as cowboy-clothes, they were over the top.

”I think she looks pretty in it”, Tuuri said.

Sigrun seemed to have chosen clothes that matched perfectly with the bull she had been paired with. White boots with delicate, barely noticeable, black details. Her jeans also pearly white, perfectly folded into her boots. A wide, brown belt with a silver beltbuckle. Her gloves had white fingers but over the hand the black took over. She had a white shirt and a black jacket over it. White, thin leatherstrips dangled from the arms, over her chest and neatly from her shoulders. Her hat also black, with a white hatband and white leather sewn around the edge of the brim. The bull itself had a mostly white backside, with some black markings, but the front was almost completely black.

”Pretty but overdone”, the person agreed.

Lalli finally looked towards the person. Shoulder-lenght blonde hair framed a slightly chubby face. He held his back straight and had an air of confidence around himself. His clothes were spotless, black patent shoes, a pressed, almost black suit with thin darkgray stripes and a lightblue tie. If Sigrun was overdoing it, this person was overdoing it at least  _twice_ as hard. Who in their right mind dressed like that for a rodeo?

”Hello”, he offered Lalli his hand, which Lalli ignored. ”I'm Emil.”

From the city. Lalli could tell from his accent. At least he didn't try to talk like someone from the neighborhood. Tuuri shook his hand since Lalli didn't do it. Lalli instead focused on a barely visible spot on Emil's chest. Not entierly spot-less in other words. Emil turned his gaze down to see what Lalli was looking at, blushed and turned back towards the paddock.

“Still, I could do it better than her.”

At that moment the bull did an extra sharp turn, combined with a kick, and Sigrun fell off, rolled in the dirt but got back on her feet and ran to the fence. Two people from the public grabbed her and dragged her over it just as the bull reached her. A gate in the fence opened and two riders came inside, led the bull back into the box and then a loud cheer erupted from the public. Tuuri applauded wildly and Emil hmpfed.

“You should go ask them if you can try”, Tuuri suggested. “But it’s a lot harder than she made it look. I broke my arm once when I tried.”

Emil paled and Lalli went closer to look at him. This weird city-slicker was, well, weird. Lalli wasn’t certain if Tuuri was just teasing him or was genuinely concerned for his safety. She didn’t lie, but she had been three years and snuck out into the cow pasture, found the angriest bull out there and climbed on it. The broken arm wasn’t from being thrown off him, but from the ensuing chaos that erupted among the cows as the bull threw her off. From what Lalli had heard that was why her family had moved to the town. It was also the reason for Onni’s aversion to animals. Lalli took a step back from the fence as the next person stepped onto a new bull and was released into the paddock. They did a lot worse than Sigrun, as did the following 5 people, but then there were two who managed to stay on a bit longer. Lalli could see Sigrun cheering at them from the other side of the paddock.

Onni arrived when the bull riding was over and the bronc riding started. He glared disapprovingly at Tuuri, but didn’t say anything. She smiled at him and introduced Emil, who she had spent most of the previous event getting to know. Emil offered his hand and Onni shook it, almost looked as if he was trying to crush it during the gesture. Emil winced and pulled his hand free of Onni’s grip.

“So you’re Onni? Your sister told me a lot about you.”

“She should know better than to talk to strangers.”

“Onni, please, I’m a grown woman now, I can talk to whoever I want!”

Sigrun was first out again, Lalli noted while doing his best to tune out the argument between Onni and Tuuri that followed. Emil walked up to him and stood beside him.

“Is Onni always like that?”

“Mm.”

“You know, this looks even easier than the bull riding. Maybe I should try it.”

Lalli’s lips twitched and he tried hard to not smile at the thought of Emil falling onto the dirt. Emil shifted his weight from one foot to the other as Sigrun almost fell off.

“Or maybe not.”

“Is easy.”

“You’re going to try as well?”

Lalli shrugged. He hadn’t planned to, but Emil didn’t need to know about that. Emil scratched his neck.

“I guess if you try I could do it as well.”

Lalli raised an eyebrow. Something about Emil was different now compared to when he had interacted with Tuuri. He couldn’t quite tell what though, but a lot of the confidence he had previously displayed was gone. Maybe he’d do it just to see the city-person fall off. Maybe definitely.

“Okay.”

He wasn’t quite sure how to interpret Emil’s face. It was a combination of relieved and terrified. Tuuri and Onni looked at them, Onni with his arms crossed over his chest. He didn’t approve. Of course he didn’t. Tuuri squeed as Sigrun was awarded her points.

“She got a 70! She’s amazing! I’m gonna say hi to her.”

She ran away before Onni could stop her and Onni followed her. Emil kicked carefully in the dirt.

“…What does a 70 means?”

“That she’s pretty good.”

“How much do you get?”

Lalli flinched and looked away. He didn’t need to be reminded about his low scores.

“…You’ll find out.”

He looked towards the judges. The paddock would be empty after this event, the others took place in a larger enclosure, but maybe he could ask them to stay and show the city-slicker how it worked. Not that he cared about Emil, but he should know stuff before opening his mouth, he just looked like an idiot when he didn’t. Lalli knew two of the three judges, one of them was the saloon-owner and the other was his northern neighbor. The third judge looked out of place and was dressed in a suit just as Emil. He’d probably enjoy seeing one of his people trying the cowboy-event.

Of course, seeing as they were the evening’s judges they were probably needed at the other enclosure but it would be a break between the events. Most people would go to the alcohol booth and have something to drink so there wouldn’t be a lot of people around to witness Emil’s fall. Maybe ten or so, depending on how thirsty they were. He nodded towards the judges.

“We should go ask them. I knew a couple who’d let us use their horses.”

Emil nodded, pulled his fingers through his hair and fired off sparkles in all direction. He looked slightly more confident again. Tuuri waved at them as they came closer and Sigrun hit Lalli’s back when she spotted him.

“You came! I knew you would. Hard for cowboys to stay away from an event like this, ain’t it?”

She didn’t look quite as tall now that she was off her high horse, but she was still one of the taller people Lalli had seen.

“You gonna sign up for any of the other events?”

Lalli shook his head.

“But you seemed like a good enough rider!”

“I’m not worried about that, just the people watching”, Lalli admitted.

Emil introduced himself to Sigrun. He had that confident stance again now.

“My friend and I are going to ask the judges to let us attempt the horse riding-thing without any of the actual judging. This is my first time at an event like this and it didn’t feel right to overshadow all the rest of you during my first attempt.”

Lalli shook his head and Sigrun looked at him.

“Is this guy for real?”

“Are you?”

She had changed into a less showy outfit now that the first two events were over, but they were still over the top compared to what the regular towns-people wore. She winked at him.

“Wouldn’t you like to know?”

“Sigrun, don’t tease him like that!” Tuuri said. “He doesn’t understand it!”

Lalli understood very well, thank you very much, but he wasn’t going to tell anyone that. Emil on the other hand blushed ferociously. Lalli considered stomping his still shiny shoes to get his mind out of the gutter, but it really wasn’t his problem. Instead he walked over to the judges while the red-head continued teasing Emil.

Getting their permission was even easier than he had anticipated. They were delighted to have an excuse to linger between the events instead of having to watch everyone else starting their journey into drunkenness. They themselves couldn’t drink anything until the last event was over. There was a few more riders, Lalli stayed with the judges during their attempts and noticed a small increase in the wildness of the horses. It wasn’t enough for anyone else to notice and it wouldn’t do much of a difference for the riders but he still cursed silently. He needed to learn how to hold his calmness-aura in, like Onni.

He glanced towards his older cousin. Onni could also make animals calm by just being close to them, but he had a stronger aura than Lalli and could get animals to obey him completely. It was a waste of his abilities to not have him work with animals, but it was his choice and Lalli wasn’t going to tell him otherwise, Tuuri already did. Their grandmother had had the same ability and had taught them how to use it. Her attempts had been focused on Lalli, even though he showed a lesser innate ability than Onni, simply because he was the one who always disappeared to be with the animals.

The event ended and Tuuri, Sigrun, Onni and Emil came up to Lalli and the judges as well. Sigrun grinned towards the city-judge and Lalli noted that yes, she did indeed know him. Emil walked up to Lalli.

“So, you ready cowboy?”

Lalli winced and put his fingers to Emil’s chin and closed his mouth.

“Don’t try to talk like a cowboy, you’ll look like a dude.”

“?”

He let go of Emil again. Tuuri beamed.

“It’s so nice to see you this friendly with someone!”

Lalli shrugged. Sigrun hit Emil and Lalli’s backs. Did she ever stop grinning?

“Bulls or broncs?”

“uuuuh”, Emil started. “Errr…”

He looked at Lalli. Lalli shrugged.

“You decide, I’m up for either.”

“B…”

Lalli was certain Emil wasn’t sure what broncs meant. Emil scratched his neck then straightened his back.

“Bulls?”

“Awesome!” Sigrun grinned and waved for them to follow her. “There are two bulls left, a couple of the contestants didn’t show up so they’re well rested and full of bucking energy. You’ll have so much fun!”

Emil looked like he didn’t agree to Sigrun’s idea of fun, but he tried to keep a straight face. Lalli followed, hands in his pocket and relaxed. They hadn’t decided who’d go first but Lalli figured he might as well. Unless Emil insisted to go first of course, which he probably would.

“Do you want to go first?” Emil asked as if he read Lalli’s mind.

“Unless you want to.”

“I’m okay with going second”, he lowered his voice. “Maybe you could show me how to do this.”

Lalli mffed, but didn’t disagree. Sigrun led a bull to the bucking chute and Lalli climbed onto it. It moved under him, but he could feel it calming down. The gate opened and the bull leaped into the enclosure, looked like it was going to start attempting to throw Lalli off but then it simply walked to the other side of the enclosure, sniffed the fence and walked back to the bucking chute. Lalli was awarded an astonishing zero for his performance, but Emil seemed less nervous now. Lalli wasn’t sure if that was good or bad.

A new bull was led to the enclosure, almost completely black except the stomach which was white. It snorted angrily as it was locked up in the bucking chute. Lalli stepped a little closer to it while Sigrun helped Emil climb onto its back. The bull tried bucking the moment Emil sat down, but the bucking chute wasn’t big enough for it.

“You ready?”

Emil nodded, didn’t open his mouth. Lalli took another step closer and the bull only rocked from side to side, trying to crush Emil’s legs to the fence. Sigrun opened the gate to stop it from happening and the bull leaped out, bucked, kicked and rushed. Emil held on for his life but then he lost his grip and flew of the bull. The bull turned around, managed to kick Emil’s cheek. Emil winced, rolled over. The bull jumped over him, ran a few paces, then turned around again and lowered its head. Lalli’s eyes widened and he pulled at Onni’s sleeve.

“Onni!”

Onni understood. He rushed to the fence, held out a hand and stared at the bull.

“STOP!”

The bull stopped, its horns just centimeters from Emil. Emil breathed heavily and Lalli and Sigrun jumped over the fence, grabbed the bull.

“I can take it, help Emil”, Lalli said.

“What happened?” Sigrun looked bewildered. “Why did it stop? I mean, I’m glad it did, but why?”

“Later, take Emil!”

Lalli held his hand over the bull’s nose. It looked at him, and Lalli started backing towards the chute. The bull followed and he listened as Sigrun helped Emil to his feet. With the bull back in the chute Lalli climbed out of it and watched as Sigrun led Emil to the gate and out through it. Emil’s previously clean suit was covered in dirt, his hair was a mess and he had dropped one of his shoes. Lalli felt a sting in his stomach. Emil could have died and it would have been his fault.

“I tried to calm the bull”, he told Tuuri. “I really did. I didn’t think it would attack him like that.”

“He did say it was easy, you can’t fault yourself for that.”

“He only…” Lalli didn’t finish the sentence. He didn’t know why Emil had said that, but he had a vague idea that he had just been trying to impress Tuuri. The judges were discussing among themselves, Lalli looked at them and then walked around the enclosure to where Sigrun had sat Emil down.

“You okay?”

Emil nodded and laughed nervously.

“I looked like a fool, didn’t I?”

“…a little”, Lalli admitted.

“It was awesome!” Sigrun hit Emil’s shoulder. “You’re one brave little thing, aren’t you? The bull almost killed you and you didn’t even flinch!”

Emil forced a smile. Sigrun ruffled his hair and sand flew off it.

“Ye look a lot more like one o’ us now!”

Emil’s forced smile twitched and he pulled his fingers through his hair to fix it. He tried dusting off his clothes but winced slightly instead. Lalli patted his suit to help.

“Yeah, ye might get some bruises, nasty fall.”

Lalli rolled his eyes at the way Sigrun switched between accents. She should just stick to one.

“I’ll look like a mess for the dance this way”, Emil complained.

The saloon owner came over to them, smiled.

“You took a nasty fall there, greenhorn.”

Emil gigglesnorted.

“I was distracted by the pretty ladies”, he winked towards Sigrun, who laughed.

“Anyway, after much discussion, a few disagreements and eventually a promise to not throw chairs at each other we decided to award you with 30 points. Not bad for a tenderfoot.”

“Is that 30 for the bull and 0 for the rider?” Lalli asked, hiding a laugh.

“Close”, the judge answered. “10 points for the rider. We were impressed he didn’t fall off already in the bucking chute. Either way, good job! You on the other hand”, he turned to Lalli, “need to learn what the bull riding is about.”

“Not my fault Sigrun gave me a defective bull.”

“It wasn’t defective when I took it off the truck”, Sigrun protested. “Anyway, what happened out there?”

Sigrun looked towards Onni, who just arrived with Tuuri. He looked back at her, looked away.

“It’s impolite to stare.”

“What did you do to the bull?”

“Nothing!” Onni blushed. “What did you do to it to get it to behave like that?!”

The judge left again. Onni and Sigrun stopped their fighting before it turned into a fight. Emil brushed off his pants and started laughing. Lalli nodded approvingly, that meant he was okay. Emil kept laughing, but there was a high pitch in it that didn’t sound quite right. Lalli crouched infront of him. Was that tears in his eyes? Emil turned his head down slightly so his bangs covered his eyes. Emil got up from the bench and dusted off the dust from the front of his suit.

“I think… I’ll go back and change clothes. I’ll see you all at the dance later.” 

He left and Tuuri grabbed Lalli's hand to drag him to the next event. Sigrun disappeared, probably to participate, and they lost Onni in the crowd. Tuuri only smiled and patted Lalli's back when he asked if they shouldn't look for him.

”Don't worry, we'll catch him later. At the dance.”

Lalli didn't even want to go to the dance.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yes, there you have it. Potential new boyfriend numbero uno: The Saloon owner!  
>  ~~Like Lalli is even interested in getting a boyfriend~~


	5. In which Lalli meets a potential new boyfriend, part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lalli meets Reynir while waiting for the hoedown to start. The hoedown is enjoyed by everyone except Lalli. He doesn't like to dance. But maybe with the right person?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh my lords this chapter ended up way too long, and I kept getting distracted by other shiny stuff but finally it's here!  
> Also yes (not that anyone has asked), Onni and Lalli are mages in this universe as well, but their magic powers works slightly different in this world. It's more an aura-thing.  
> Anyway here you go, Lalli meets another potential new boyfriend!

They met George and Mary next to the larger enclosure. George was limping and Mary immediately told Lalli about how their bull had kicked his horse and George had fallen off.

”He landed okay, but the horse ended up kicking him in the knee when defending him from the bull!”

George rolled his eyes and looked away. Mary nudged Lalli's side.

”Maybe you could take his place in the calf roping. I'm not letting him participate like this.”

Lalli hated the calf roping. He was good enough at it, but not as good as the others who had to catch calves regulary. He only had to do it on rare cases when helping George and to do it for a silly competition... Lalli sighed and nodded. Tuuri squeed next to him. Of course she was excited to see him compete. Mary led Lalli over to where the contestants were gathering, leaving George and Tuuri to themselves. They had brought Mary's horse and Lalli raised an eyebrow. Had they been so certain he would agree? Mary's horse was a small thing, an Appaloosa which hadn't quite reached 14 hands. She had gotten it cheap since it had been small and weak and she had spent weeks nursing it back to health. It was still small, but was perfect for Mary. Lalli had helped her train it and it was more than capable of handling everything that was demanded of a ranch-horse.

”We couldn't take George's horse even though his is faster. You know, because of what the bull did. He's resting in the stable right now, if you could come over tomorrow and take a look at him. I know you're not a vet but we'd like your input before we call them.”

Lalli nodded, patted Mary's horse. He knew her well by now, knew how she tended to turn left instead of walking straight, knew how afraid she was of rabbits and how much she adored chickens. A weird little horse in other words. Mary helped him saddle her, then Lalli led her outside.

”You have starting number twenty-two.”  
Lalli nodded, sat up on the horse and led her around. Mary went back to George and Tuuri and Lalli spotted Onni and Sigrun in an argument next to one of the horse trailers. Should he go over and see what it was about? Probably, but he decided to ignore it. He went to the waiting area, recognized his neighbour with the mice-problem and went up to her.

”Hey Lalli”, she smiled towards him then looked towards the enclosure again.

”Hey”, Lalli placed himself next to her. ”Your cat and her kittens is in my barn.”

”I'm sorry? Do you want me to fetch her?”

”No, it's okay. Just thought you should know.”

They watched the show, waited for their own turns. Lalli liked this neighbour, she didn't constantly talk at him and didn't expect him to take interest in anything. She went before him, it took her several attempts before she managed to catch the calf with the lasso, but when she jumped off the horse to tie it up it managed to slip away and she had to start over again. The public laughed and cheered at her (moslyt laughed though), but Lalli was quite impressed. He knew she didn't have any cows and wasn't used to riding. The horse belonged to her cousin, Lalli had heard something about them being away to the city for the moment but didn't know the reason. After another ten minutes the judges decided to cut the current round short and a more experienced cowboy caught the calf and led it away. Two more contestants, then it was Lalli's turn. The calf actually ran when it was released and Lalli followed it on Mary's horse. Catching it only took him about half a minute and when he jumped off the horse to tie it up it stood perfectly still and let him do it. The public booed, the first booing of the evening. He untied the calf and led it back outside again. He hadn't expected anything else. He put the horse in the trailer and went back to the others. Onni had joined as well and Mary smiled at him.

”You did amazing! How do you get them so calm?”

”Defective calf”, Lalli muttered.

There wasn't any use explaining. While people in and around the town was superstitious very few of them believed in mages. Tuuri hugged him.

”You looked awesome up there! Do you think Kikka and I could participate as well?”

Onni's face twitched and Lalli almost feared for Tuuri's safety, but George cut in before anyone else could.

”It's too late to sign up now.”

”Awww... Maybe next time”, Tuuri looked at Onni. ”You don't have to worry, I'm no longer three years-old you know.”

Lalli shook his head and decided that that was his que to leave before he got pulled into something. He waved goodbye and went to the few market stalls there was. Mostly alcohol and food and a couple lottery-things. Lalli got a hamburger and a beer and sat down at a table. It was still a couple of hours until the hoedown was starting, but people were already gathering around the stage and dancing to the radio. He watched them as he ate, considered leaving before the actual dance started so Tuuri wouldn't be able to force him to dance.

”Hello... uh... Lúlli?”

Lalli blinked. A person with long red hair sat down on the opposit side of the table.

”I saw you on the bull. You were amazing! How did you get it so calm?”

”Err...”

”I'm Reynir!” Reynir leaned a guitar against the table. ”I'll be playing during the dance. Well, there are others playing as well, but I'll be one of the people playing! Do you often ride bulls?”

”uuh...”

”I've never tried myself, it looks _so very painful_ to get thrown off, but maybe I should try sometime, what do you think?”

”Aa...”

”On the other hand I don't really want to so maybe not. I could probably try the horse-thing instead though, that looks a lot simpler. Plus, I'm used to horses, I have two myself. I guess you have one too?”

”Y-”

”We mostly have sheep though. I'm from the farm north of town. You have any sheep?”

”Two...”

”Aaa, what type of sheep are they?”

Lalli didn't know there were different type of sheep, Tuuri had been the one finding them for him.

”...the type with four legs?”

Reynir looked stumped, then laughed.

”I'd hope so, it's a lot harder for them to run around with less than four legs. So why aren't you watching the games?”

Lalli thought for a second, his facial expression growing angrier as he did, and then got up, turned his back to Reynir.

”That's none of your business.”

”I'm sorry?” Reynir grabbed Lalli's arm. ”Please stay, I won't inquire if you don't want me to.”

Lalli looked towards the enclosure, sighed and sank back down again. Reynir smiled.

”Thank you. I'm sorry for ambushing you like this.”

Lalli nodded, then the two of them ate in silence. Reynir fiddled a little with his guitar when he was done and Lalli shifted his gaze between Reynir and the people passing by, in case Tuuri and Onni had stopped arguing and decided to look for him. Tuuri was most likely still busy with watching the contests though. It still wasn't too late to go home.

”You going to the dance?” Reynir asked.

”It looks like it.” Lalli shrugged. ”Not much for dancing.”

”Aww, but dancing is great!” Reynir got up and grabbed Lalli's hand. ”Come on, I'll show you!”

Lalli pulled his hand free, leaned back and fell off the bench. He huffed, crawled to his feet and dusted himself off. Reynir tried to help, but Lalli hissed and Reynir backed away again.

”Sorry, I'm just...”

Lalli glared, waited. Reynir scratched the back of his head and apologized again. Lalli shook his head, grabbed his beer and headed off. He could hear Reynir grabbing his guitar and following him, but Lalli took cover in the mass of people that was moving towards the stage. He found a bench somewhat hidden between the stage and a tent and sank down on it. He drank his beer and watched as people started gathering. After half an hour he spotted Sigrun and moved into the shadows in hopes that she'd miss him. Another couple of minutes later he saw Onni and was pretty certain Tuuri was close by as well. Fifteen more minutes, then the music started. He got up from the bench and went closer to the dancefloor.

”Hey Lalli!”

Emil waved to him and Lalli lifted a hand, then quickly put it in is pocket again. Emil made his way over the dancefloor and stopped next to Lalli, looked at the people dancing. Lalli glanced at Emil. He looked more relaxed now, no longer wore the stupid suit and instead had jeans, sneakers and a t-shirt. There was a bruise on his cheek after the bull and Lalli felt guilt rip in him again. He crossed his arms and looked away from Emil again. Emil waved to someone on the dancefloor and Tuuri ran over to them as well.

”There you are, Lalli, we were looking for you! Hi Emil! You feel better again now?”

”Yeah”, Emil laughed. ”You wanna dance?”

”Sure!”

Tuuri grabbed Emil's hand and pulled him to the floor. Lalli watched them, spotted Onni and Sigrun dancing on the other side of the floor, George and Mary doing a slow dance close to the edge of the floor. Reynir wasn't on the stage and he glanced around to make sure he wasn't close. A woman he had seen a couple of times in the saloon came up to him and asked him for a dance, which he declined. He saw her dancing with Emil during the second song. Tuuri was dancing with Sigrun now, and Onni was talking with Mary and George who had sat down. The saloon owner had sat up a table next to the dance floor where he was serving drinks and Lalli saw Reynir next to it. He glanced towards the stage and then went over to Reynir.

”Shouldn't get too drunk if you're performing.”

”There's another band playing before my band anyway, there's nothing to worry about.”

Lalli took a whiskey, then sat down next to Reynir. They looked at the people dancing for a couple of songs. Emil was constantly dancing with a new woman, Sigrun was constantly dancing with everyone and Onni was close by her most of the time. Tuuri danced with anyone who wanted to dance with her, currently an old friend she had known while she lived in the town. Reynir had another drink, and another, and another. Lalli stole his last drink and Reynir didn't even notice it.

”You not gonna dance?” Lalli asked to distract Reynir.

”There's... really many people up there.”

”Always lots of people when something happens”, Lalli answered.

Mary and George appeared and sat down with them. Reynir greeted them and Mary smiled at Lalli.

”You sure are making lots of new friends today.”

”I have no idea what you're talking about.”

Sigrun choose that moment to arrive as well and hit his back. She ordered a large scotch from the saloon owner then sat down.

”Your little city-friend sure knows how to dance”, Sigrun said and gestured towards Emil, who was currently dancing with Tuuri again. ”Someone should teach him how we dance out here though.”

She nudged Lalli, who rolled his eyes. Onni also left the dance floor to join them after getting himself a cold beer. He leaned against Sigrun, then straightened up again. Reynir got a glass of whiskey, which Lalli exchanged for a coke when the red-head was distracted by Sigrun. The first band left the stage and Sigrun got back on the dancefloor, followed by George and Mary. Emil and Tuuri noticed the empty seats around Lalli and sat down. Lalli quietly wondered if he was some type of people-magnet.

”You're Reynir, right?” Tuuri asked when she spotted him. ”I heard your band a couple weeks ago. You're playing here tonight?”

Reynir nodded. Lalli could tell he was slightly tipsy. Tuuri squeed.

”I love your band! It'll be great listening to it again! What songs are you playing?”

”Is a secret”, Reynir said with a smile.

”Obviously”, Lalli said, ”like the author has enough fantasy to come up with song names. I mean, just look at the title.”

Everyone glanced at him like he was crazy and he blushed, looked away. Tuuri and Reynir started talking about sheep, Onni and Emil talked about the rodeo and Lalli left their gathering and went to the saloon owner, a middle-aged man by the name of Derek who was currently dressed in a white shirt, black pants and brown boots and hat.

”Never seen you with such a large gathering”, the man said.

Lalli sighed.

”I know, they won't let me be.”

”You seem to not hate it that much though.”

”It works. They haven't tried dragging me into drama yet. You got any coffee? The red-head's had a little too much.”

”Sure”, he threw a thermos to Lalli. ”You take care of your friend now.”

”He's not my...” Lalli decided there was no use arguing. ”...I'll try.”

He nodded to the saloon owner and went back to the others. Tuuri was teasing Emil about something and Lalli ignored them, threw the thermos to Reynir.

”Drink that.”

Reynir nodded and obeyed the orders and Lalli sat down next to Onni. Onni glanced at him, but Lalli didn't look back.

”Is he also a friend of yours?”

Lalli shrugged and looked at Reynir. Reynir put the thermos down on the bench next to him, but held a steaming cup in his hand and sipped from it.

”He just glued on to me. I think he's nervous.”

Emil disappeared onto the dancefloor again and Lalli watched as Tuuri started talking with Reynir. Onni sat quietly for a couple of minutes, then went up to talk with Derek, probably about some work he needed done. Lalli left the gathering, went to check on Kirsikankukka. She had finished off her water and Lalli fetched another bucket of it before going back to the dancefloor. Reynir and Tuuri was on the dancefloor, he could see them dancing together. Emil was dancing with a woman Lalli used to go to school together with. They didn't see each other very often nowadays, Lalli didn't mind but whenever they did meet up she kept reminiscing about when they played during breaks and kept talking about how they have to get together and do something. Lalli hurried away before she spotted him. They had gone to the prom together, Lalli hadn't understood until the end what that actually meant and then regretted his decision to come along.

Lalli found a somewhat secluded spot closer to the stage and stood there, hidden next to a tree, watching as everyone danced. He should join the hoedown as well, he wasn't all that bad at dancing. Just a little. He grimased slightly as he remembered the number of times he had stepped on Tuuri's toes while learning. At least it didn't happen nearly that often now.

Reynir waved goodbye to Tuuri and disappeared behind the stage. Lalli watched as Tuuri went over to Mary and danced with her instead, George was sitting at a bench nearby watching them. Onni sat down next to George and Lalli walked closer.

”...acting up again”, George said. ”Think you could take a look at it?”

”I'm going to fix some tables for Derek tomorrow, but maybe after that. Depends on how long it'll take. How bad is it?”

Lalli sat down on the bench as well, but didn't do anything to announce his prescence or disturb the conversation.

”Nothing urgent, but it would be nice to have it fixed this week.”

The band left the stage, a short break was announced and everyone headed to the drinking booth. Derek yelled over the crowd for Fernandez to come help him, Lalli didn't know who Fernandez was. Tuuri and Mary pulled up another bench and joined Onni, Lalli and George and Lalli got up, left them and went over to Emil, who was just leaning against the fence around the dancing area and watching the few people who was still up there dancing to the radio. It was mostly kids, the grown-ups prefered the live-music. Lalli leaned next to him.

”One day I'm going to have tw kids”, Emil said. ”A boy and a girl, I think. Or two boys.”

”Not two girls?”

”I wouldn't mind having two girls. How about you?”

”Kids are loud and gross.”

”Well, yes, but they're so much more than that. Wouldn't you want a couple to help you on your ranch?”

Tuuri must have talked about him while dancing with Emil. Lalli let out a sigh.

”I can handle it. I borrow Mary's kids for the apple picking.”

”...I guess that's also an option. Okay, I understand. No kids for you.”

”Why do you want them?”

”I... It's just something you're supposed to do, isn't it? Get married, have to kids, find a nice house, get a dog and a car. And I mean... I like kids, they're fun. My uncle has three, I help out with them sometimes.”

”Hm.”

”Tuuri said you're pretty much married to your ranch though so maybe you don't understand. Or maybe you understand too well. Some people call their animals kids after all.”

”They're just tools.”

”The people?”

”The animals. Some people are tools to.” Lalli glanced at Emil. ”People like you.”

Emil huffed, but didn't answer. Lalli and Emil looked towards the stage where Reynir's band was currently setting up.

”You've dance anything today?” Emil asked.

”I... prefer not to.”

”Would you like to dance with me?”

”Not really.”

”Is it because I'm a 'dude'?”

”You're not a dude. I just don't like dancing.”

Emil shrugged and waved to Sigrun.

”I'm going to dance some more. I'll talk to you later. Feel free to change your mind about the dance.”

”I won't.”

Emil disappeared and the radio went silent, replaced by the band. Reynir looked more confident now, happy. Like he was where he belonged. Reynir's voice wasn't bad, but the lead singer was a woman with long, curly, blond hair. She was dressed in a tight, blue dress with a V-neck that reached almost down to her navel. She had a strong voice which reached far beyong the dance floor. Lalli didn't mind listening to it. Tuuri came up to him.

”They're great, aren't they?”

She almost had to yell or he wouldn't have heard. Lalli nodded and Tuuri nodded toward the floor.

”You up for dancing?”

”Not really.”

”Dancing's good for you, you know. And I know you can dance, I taught you after all!”

”Still don't like it much though.”

Silence, Tuuri tried to see what he was looking at and he looked away from Emil, looked towards Derek instead. The crowd around Derek had thinned out, but there was a tall man next to him behind the counter. Lalli assumed that was Fernandez. Tuuri tapped her fingers to the music, moved a little. Lalli looked at her instead.

”If you want to dance there are other people to dance with.”

”I've danced with everyone I wanted to already.”

Lalli rolled his eyes.

”Dance with them again. Sigrun's free, I saw how you looked at her when she rode the bull.”

Onni chose that moment to ask Sigrun to dance and Tuuri laughed.

”It's nice to see Onni hanging out with someone outside of work.”

”Mhm.”

Lalli couldn't understand why Onni kept dancing with her, the two of them had been arguing just a few hours ago. He shook his head and decided it was none of his business.

”I'll go ask Clara again, you okay alone?”

Lalli didn't dignify the question with an answer and Tuuri disappeared again. Clara had been the girl he went to prom with and if Tuuri could help keep her away from him he'd gladly accept that. He went back to the small bar and ordered a whiskey. Reynir's band played for half an hour, then there was another break as the next band prepared the stage. When the next band was ready Reynir appeared from nowhere, put his guitar behind the desk and grabbed Lalli.

”Come on, let's dance!”

”I don't dance!”

Reynir laughed and pulled Lalli to the dance floor. Lalli tried pulling free, but Reynir was stronger than he was. Reynir led, Lalli kept trying to sneak away, but Reynir always caught him. They danced through the first song. During the second Emil and a woman Lalli didn't know danced next to them.

”I'm hurt”, Emil said with a smile. ”You refuse to dance with me, but dance with him. Is it the hair?”

”He forced me!”

”Well then”, Emil spun the woman he danced with and winked to Lalli. ”May I have the next dance?”

”Hnn...”

Lalli stopped moving, closed his eyes and kept his arms straight to his side. He wasn't going to dance any more. Reynir stopped trying to dance with him and he ran off the floor, back to the bar.

”You look like you need something strong”, Derek said and handed him a glass.

Lalli downed it in one go, got himself another whiskey. Reynir had already found someone else to dance with, the woman Emil had dances with previously. Emil was makng his way through the crowd but got caught by Sigrun. Lalli took one more glass of whiskey. The music wasn't bad and it actually hadn't been all that horrible to be on the floor. Slightly crowded and he hadn't asked to join them but it hadn't been death. Two more songs ended. Onni waved goodbye and left for the night, as did Mary and George. Tuuri and Reynir sat on a bench talking, Derek had disappeared as well and Fernandez was providing Lalli with beer now. Lalli felt warm and wanted to do something. Emil was dancing with Clara and Lalli gritted his teeth. He really didn't like her, she kept stomping in on his curf all the time. He put the beer down, got up from the bench. Fernandez put a hand on his shoulder.

”I reckon ye had a bit too much to drink, mate.”

”Iz fine.”

The ground was moving a little under his feet and Fernandez handed him a cup of coffee. It was hot, but cleared up his head a little, made the ground move less. Lalli left the cup on the table and then made his way over the dance floor. He tapped Emil's shoulder as the song ended.

”May I have this dance?”

Emil looked confused, then nodded and stepped to the side, offering Lalli to take his place. Clara lit up, but Lalli glared.

”Not with her, idiot. With you.”

”Oh, okay. Sure.”

He glanced towards Clara and then grabbed Lalli. Lalli was surprised at how firm Emil's hands felt. It was a slow song, the night was ending and people were getting tired and Emil blushed as he pressed closer to Lalli. Lalli wrapped his arms around Emil and leaned his head against Emil's shoulder. He was a little tired as well and the idiot felt safe and warm. He could probably fall asleep leaning against him.

”You okay with this?” Emil asked.

”Mmm”, Lalli answered.

”Are you drunk?”

”Tipsy.”

”Do you need help home?”

”Kirsikankukka knows the way.”

”What if you fall off?”

”It'll be fine.”

”I don't like it. Could you stay with Onni tonight? Or come over to my hotell room if you prefer.”

”Need to take care of the horse.” Lalli nuzzled further into Emil's shoulder. ”You're comfortable.”

”...you are drunk. I'll help you home.”

”I'll be fine.”

Lalli pulled away, the song ended and he patted Emil's cheek.

”I know these lands. I can handle it.”

Reynir appeared from nowhere and Lalli blinked. The red-head looked at him.

”So you're up for dancing now? Wanna spin around a little with me?”

Lalli's eyes traced Reynir, then he nodded. Why not, it hadn't been so bad after all. He waved goodbye to Emil and started dancing with Reynir instead. Another slow song, Reynir wasn't quite as comfortable as Emil, but he felt... happy when Reynir's arms held him against the other's chest.

”Wanna know a secret?” Reynir whispered. ”I'm a mage.”

”Me too”, Lalli slurred.

It wasn't something he usually told people, since most of the time they waved it off, didn't believe him, didn't understand. Reynir laughed.

”What can you do?”

”Control animals.”

”That sounds awesome, could you show me?”

”Hmm... Maybe tomorrow.”

Reynir wasn't as warm as Emil either. He was more lukewarm, perfect for slightly cool days, but now that night was rolling it it was getting cold. Lalli shivered a little and Reynir hugged him tighter.

”Getting ready to call it a day?”

”I think so”, Lalli yawned.

The whiskey, beer and whatever else Derek had given him had finally gotten to his head. He should get home while he could still sit up. The song ended, next song began and he didn't leave.

”How long have you been in a band?” he asked.

”Since I was four”, Reynir answered. ”I got a tambourine for yule one year and started a band with my siblings. Ma regretted that gift for the following 4 years, but then I started school and was taught to play other instruments and how to play them well.”

”You sing well. Captivating.”

”I get that a lot.”

There was something sad in Reynir's voice, Lalli didn't understand it. Somehow they got to the edge of the dance floor, and before Lalli knew what was happening he was sitting on Kirsikankukka's back. Reynir was sitting behind him, his arms wrapped around Lalli so he wouldn't fall off. Kirsikankukka rocked gently beneath him and he was almost drifting off.

”Sorry about this”, Reynir said. ”You'll have to guide me, I don't know where you live.”

”Down the road, you can't miss it.”

”Believe me, I can. I'll tell you about that time I was going to Denmark when you're more awake though. You shouldn't have had so much to drink.”

”Coming from you that means nothing.”

Kirsikankukka found the way by herself, Reynir didn't have to do anything. Lalli slid off her, started moving to the stable, but Reynir's hands led him to the house instead, to the bedroom, and he fell down in the bed. Moonlight lit up the small room, but he fell asleep almost immediately. He didn't hear Reynir leave the room again.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Potential new boyfriend number 2: Fernandez!  
> (...Unless Derek and Fernandez are already together. Are they? I don't know! :D)
> 
> Also one SSSS main character left to introduce, maybe we'll see him in the next chapter 0=)


	6. In which Lalli finds a body

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lalli wakes up to sounds in the kitchens and discoveres that Reynir is still around. He's not going to let that stop him from taking care of his chores though.

Lalli's head was painful. He couldn't quite remember how he came home, but he must have taken Kirsikankukka, there wasn't any other option. He rolled to the side and fell out of the bed.

”Ah!”

The floor was hard, his body was tangled up in the cover and he struggled to break free. The sun was already high in the sky and Lalli cursed. He must have had way too much to drink at the rodeo. He rubbed his eyes, finally managed to get out from the cover and got to his feet. He stretched, then stopped when he heard sounds from the kitchen. He opened the door slowly, took care not to knock it into the bed as he usually did. Two of his cats meowed as he tip-toed through the living room and he hushed them. The sounds stopped and then Reynir looked at him. Lalli blinked.

”What are _you_ doing here?”

”Did you hope for someone else?”

Lalli didn't know what to answer so he only stared at Reynir. Reynir disappeared into the kitchen again.

”I'm making breakfast. Mary gave me some coffee, it's in the thermos on the table if you want a cup. Did you sleep well?”

Lalli sat down in the couch and poured himself a cup of coffee. Reynir came out and looked at him again. Lalli drank his coffee, ignored the guitarist.

”You like egg and bacon? There's not much else I can do.”

”...egg and bacon is fine.”

”I followed you home”, Reynir said as he went back to the stove. ”You could barely keep your eyes open. Good thing your horse knew the way because I didn't.”

Lalli couldn't remember Reynir following him.

”Don't worry, I took care of her after I put you to bed. Didn't manage to get you to change into pyjamas though.”

Lalli blinked and looked down on the clothes he had worn to the rodeo. He needed to change. He got up, his head felt a better now that he had woken up and gotten some coffee. He pulled off his clothes, dropped them on the floor and took new clothes from the bureau. Reynir appeared again with two plates in his hands.

”Where do you want to eat?”

”Outside.”

Reynir nodded, went to the porch and Lalli followed him. The sky was cloudy, probably why he had been able to sleep as long as he had. Maybe they'd get some rain later.

”George and Mary says that you don't need to rush to help them, but they'd be grateful if you could come by as soon as possible.”

Lalli nodded and ate his breakfast. It was slightly better than bread and jam, he could give Reynir that. Reynir ate as well, watched as the cats ran across the grass. The cows mooed and Lalli hurried to finish his food. He looked at the sky, and then at Reynir.

”...Do you know how to milk a cow?”

Reynir nodded. Lalli reconsidered, then decided it was for the best. He had wasted so much time sleeping already.

”Feel like helping me milk the cows? They should have been milked four hours ago and I could use the extra hands.”

”Of course, it sounds fun!”

”I'll go gather them then. The milking pen is right next to the barn. Be there in half an hour.”

Lalli left, saddled Poku and then went to fetch the cows. They were by the river today as well, but some of them had gathered closer to the fence to the other cow-pen, where he kept the ones who didn't get along with the herd. He thought about taking away the fence since this year all his cows and bulls and calves got along well, but they were happy with the area they already had so he didn't. He rode over there, tried to get them to move, but there was something that was disturbing them. He slid off Poku and went into the other pen to see what it was.

It didn't smell that bad, not as the other he had found. Flies were already flocking to it, one of his cats as well. And a fox. Lalli sighed and shooed his cat away.

”I hope you didn't eat anything!”

”Meow!”

Lalli looked at the corpse. It didn't look like the cat had started eating it and he let out a sigh of relief. He never liked having to hand his cats over to the police.

”You stay away from that now. Go catch a mouse instead.”

The cat meowed again before disappearing into the dry grass and Lalli looked at the corpse again. He couldn't recognize the person. They were dressed in jeans and a baggy shirt and Lalli shook his head, looked at the fox.

”You should leave it alone as well.”

The fox looked at him, then trotted away. Lalli could see bitemarks where it had managed to move the clothes enough to expose the skin. Hopefully the police wouldn't need the fox as evidence. He climbed back onto Poku and herded the cows towards the milking pen. Now that he had seen the body as well they were more willing to follow him. Reynir waved towards him and the cows hesitated a little. Lalli always did all the milking himself and the cows were used to how he worked. Lalli patted the most resistant cow and led her to Reynir.

”Don't worry, he knows what he's doing.”

He handed Reynir a bucket, told him to let the cows out as he got done with them and then went to work himself. He showed Reynir were to leave the milk and then rode over to Mary and George's to borrow their phone. Mary was outside feeding the chickens when he arrived and she waved at him.

”Did you have fun yesterday?”

Lalli shrugged.

”We would have stayed longer, but George's knee was getting worse. He's resting on the porch. Do you think you can help me gather the cows without him?”

”No problem. I need to borrow your phone afterwards.”

”Oh? Did you meet someone at the dance yesterday?”

”Need to call the police. Found another body dumped in the cow-pen today.”

”Wow. What is that, the third one this year?”

”I think so.”

”You should put up a sign. 'No body-dumping here'.”

”Very funny. Hopefully they'll catch them this time. The cows?”

”Oh yes, right. You hurry along to fetch them.”

Lalli left, entered the cowpen and gathered their cows. He glanced at the sky as he rode into the milking pen.

”It'll start raining in a couple hours”, he told Mary.

”I better hurry with my chores then. Could you take a look at George's horse? He's in the stable. You can go make your call after that, you know where the phone is.”

Lall nodded and left Mary with the cows. He left Poku outside the stable and found George's horse in his box. He went in to it, let his hands trace over it. It had gotten a minor injury to its front leg, but it wouldn't need a veterinary to heal up, just some rest. He patted its neck and went outside again. Poku followed him to the house, his eyes followed Lalli as he went inside. George was stationed in the couch and watching soccer, his leg rested on a pillow in the couch. He nodded towards Lalli as he entered and Lalli lifted a hand in greeting.

”Sorry you had to get the ows yourself, but Mary insisted.”

”No worry. You okay?”

”Yeah, nothing to worry about, it only hurts when I walk.”

”Should have skipped the hoedown.”

George laughed.

”I probably should have, but it was fun. What're you doing in here?”

”Phone”, Lalli gestured. ”Found another body.”

”Fourth this year?”

”Yeah.”

”Popular place, your farm. Glad we haven't found any here. Any clues to who keeps leaving them there?”

Lalli shook his head.

”Maybe you should set up a camera.”

”Maybe”, Lalli grabbed the phone and dialed the police. ”But they haven't destroyed anything yet and it's better they dump the bodies where we can find them than somewhere else. At least they've avoided the river. Hey, Captain Andersen, this is Lalli.”

Captain Trond Andersen was an old man and Lalli didn't like him much. He had reached retirement age but kept working because he was bored. Lalli had met him when he found the first corpse on his lands and he had kept suspecting Lalli as the killer. Lalli was certain he was still Trond's number one suspect eventhough nothing pointed in his direction.

”Have you discovered another body on your lands?”

”I have.”

”Fifth one this year, if memory serves me correctly.”

”Yeah, I know. Just send someone over to get it.”

”They'll be there in twenty minutes. Same spot as the other times?”

”Yeah.”

”Alright, I'm dispatching them now. I assume you're not ready to admit to killing them yet?”

”I can't, since I didn't do it.”

”It was worth a try.”

The call ended. Lalli put the phone down, waved goodbye to George and left. He didn't see Mary and went straight back to his ranch. Reynir was in one of the apple trees and waved to him as he passed.

”Your apples are almost ripe!”

Lalli ignored him and went back to were the corpse laid. The police arrived exactly twenty minutes after the call and Lalli nodded to them. He had met a few of them the previous times, but only one had made a lasting expression. A tall, wide man with blue eyes and blond, shoulder-lenght hair and sideburns that rivaled a lion's mane. Mikkel Madsen. Said man slid out of one of the cars carrying something under his arm.

”Sixth corpse in a year, you sure are popular!”

No answer. Mikkel handed him what he had been carrying; a signpost that read ”Body dumping ground”. Lalli groaned.

”It is easier for us when they dump the bodies in the same spot”, Mikkel laughed.

”Would prefer if it wasn't my cow-pen though.”

Police tape was put up around the corpse and they started looking for clues and whatever else the police does at a crime scene. Lalli didn't know and didn't really care to find out, he just wanted to make sure they didn't destroy his stuff.

”It will take some time”, Mikkel said as he started walking to the scene. ”You should get back to work.”

”I'm good here.”

Poku grazed next to him. Mikkel shrugged and got to work. Twenty minutes later Reynir appeared on Kirsikankukka. He looked at the cops as he stopped next to Lalli.

”What's happened?”

”Another body”, Lalli answered.

”Another? Wait, your farm's the one they keep writing about in the news papers? What is it, the seventh this year?”

”Something like that.”

”Should I make some coffee or something for them? What's the polite thing to do? I've never had anything to do with cops. Except that one time... but I'll tell you about that later.”

”They'll be gone soon.”

”Wait, there was actually a couple of other times as well...”

”...Why are you riding Kirsikankukka?”

”I wanted to see what you were up to. I didn't think it'd be something this exciting.”

Lalli sighed, then decided that okay, he'd let the police work without his supervision. He climbed back onto Poku and left, Reynir following. The rode along the northern side of the cow-pen towards the sheep. They were doing great and Lalli fetched the wagon, then got new water from the river. Reynir helped him water the crops. The moment they were done it started raining. Lalli put the wagon back and the two rode back, took the saddles of the horses and took cover inside the house as it started raining cats and dogs.

”...don't think I'll get any work on the barn done today”, Lalli said as he watched the pouring rain from the door, ”but thank you for this.”

He nodded towards the sky and went inside. Reynir had already disappeared into the kitchen and Lalli followed him there.

”You hungry?” Reynir asked.

”How long are you planning on staying?”

”Well, you said you were going to show me how you control the animals. Do you want me to leave?”

Lalli glanced out the window and at the clouds. It'd keep pouring the rest of the day, he was certain of it.

”...you can stay until it stops raining, I guess.”

”Thank you!” Reynir smiled towards him then turned to the fridge again. ”So there's not that much here, but we could probably make some pasta and sauce.”

”Didn't you say you can only make egg and bacon?”

”I may have undersold my abilities, I'm quite fluent in pasta as well. But there is bread if you prefer.”

”Yesterday I _only_ had bread, where did the other stuff come from?”

”Mary stopped by this morning, didn't I tell you? She left the coffee and some food, said she knew you were running out.”

Reynir took the pasta out of the cupboard, took some meat out of the fridge and then looked at Lalli.

”We need tomatoes though. I notice you had some out there. And an onion.”

Lalli opened the window, climbed over the stove and fetched tomatoes and an onion, as well as some herbs, from the vegetable garden before climbing back in. It hadn't taken him more than two minutes but he was already drenched. He muttered as he handed the stuff to Reynir, then went into the living room to change into dry clothes. He sank down in the couch and Sissi rolled up in his lap, purred and he petted her absentmindedly. Reynir was singing in the kitchen and Lalli listened to him. It was in a language Lalli didn't know, but it filled him with feelings. Sad feelings, and he bit his lip. Reynir peeked outside after a while and blushed as his eyes fell on Lalli.

”I'm sorry, I didn't think you'd hear it out here, I was trying to make enough noise to cancel my singing out. Do you want a handkerchief?”

Lalli shook his head, raised an eyebrow. What was he talking about? He remembered vaguely that Reynir had admitted to being a mage, but had he said anything about how it showed? Should he ask? He didn't.

”I'll sing something happier.”

He disappeared into the kitchen again.

”Unless you need to catch some more zzs?” he called when he started working.

”I think I've slept enough. You sing whatever you want.”

Sissi left his lap and disappeared into the bedroom. Three other cats came inside as well and laid down on the carpet. Reynir sang something happier and the sadness Lalli had felt disappeared. He glanced towards the kitchen. Was his magic in the songs? The thermos was still on the table and Lalli poured himself another cup of coffee. When the food was done Reynir joined him in the living room. They ate in silence to begin with.

”I can... influence people”, Reynir said after a while. ”It's not the same as controlling them, but it's not far from it.”

Lalli didn't answer. Reynir kept talking.

”I don't hate it but... it makes it hard to tell what people actually feel. Do they like my songs because they're good songs, or because I like them? Do they like me, or are they only affected by my own feelings for them?”

He looked at Lalli, Lalli looked at his food.

”It didn't affect you as much, I liked that. You couldn't resist it quite as well when you got drunk though.”

”Wasn't drunk”, Lalli muttered.

”Not black-out drunk maybe, but you were definately more than a little tipsy!”

Silence for another two minutes then Reynir started talking again.

”Music makes the effect stronger. Songs, instuments... I could probably bang on pots and people would feel it. It's probably the only reason ma didn't throw me out when I was young.”

Reynir looked at Lalli again.

”How about you? How does your magic works?”

”I'm not...” Lalli shuffled his food around with his fork. ”I can't control it. It just happens. I stand close to an animal and they calm down. I don't know how.”

”Sounds very useful though, not like mine.”

”Mf.”

Silence again. They finished their food, rain was still pouring down outside. Lalli had a deck of cards in his bureau and he fetched it after having helped Reynir take care of the dishes. They played some poker, some Go Fish. Reynir tried to teach him Canasta, but he kept getting the rules confused. After a few hours they heard a car pull up on the driveway and half a minute later a drenched Onni came inside. He hung his coat by the door and stopped when he spotted Reynir.

”Didn't know you had a friend over.”

”He followed me home yesterday.”

”You sure you didn't kidnap him? I saw police cars outside.”

”They're still there?”

”They just left. What's happening?”

”Found a body in the cow-pen.”

”...You sure you're not part of the mob? That's the eighth one this year.”

”If I was part of the mob you'd be the first one I told. What are you doing out here?”

”George asked me to fix his sink, I got done quickly enough and figured I could check how you were doing. Little did I know you had fallen to the criminal side.”

Reynir blinked, his gaze shifting from Lalli to Onni and back to Lalli before settling on Onni.

”Uh... I did come here on my own violation. Sorry?”

Onni laughed. Lalli wasn't sure when he last heard Onni laughing.

”It's fine. What are you doing?”

Onni sank down in the couch as well, and Lalli got up and sat down on the floor instead. Reynir gathered the cards and started shuffling them.

”Playing games, it was raining too much for Lalli to show his magic.”

”He never demonstrates his powers to anyone though.”

”Except everyone who watched me n the rodeo”, Lalli muttered.

”Okay, you never do it on your own free will. What made this guy special?”

”I was a little drunk”, Lalli admitted.

Reynir handed them cards and they went back to playing poker. Onni asked Lalli about work on the farm, told him how his own work was going and asked Reynir about his line of work as well. Reynir happily explained everything about travelling from town to town and playing on different bars and stages and town-squares and all the different people he had met. Lalli noticed that he didn't say anything about Denmark. The three of them ate dinner together, played a few more rounds of Go Fish and then Onni asked if Reynir needed a lift back to town. Reynir accepted and then the two of them left. Lalli gathered the cards and put them back in the bureau, fed the cats and then sat down in the door opening, listening at the downpour. He looked to the sky, at the heavy clouds.

”Thank you. We needed this.”

He sat there for a couple of hours, then went back into the bedroom. Sissi was lying on the bed and he slid down under it and fell asleep.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, the numbers kept increasing. I did that on purpose. Probably. Not the first time actually, but I decided to roll with it :P


	7. In which Emil stops by

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The raining finally stops and Lalli can go back to his regular schedule. Except Emil chooses today to stop by for a visit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> eurgh I have no idea where I'm going any longer. Well I have one idea and i want to write that NOW already but it's like 10 chapters or so into the future and I need to build stuff up before that so... here we go, another useless chapter on the road to Somewhere!

It had rained for three days. The river had filled up, as had the well. The grass and trees were greener again and the animals were happy, if drenched and hiding in whatever dry spots they could find. Lalli looked at the sky. It would stop raining any minute now, it was only a light drizzle and even that was slowing down. Sissi had given birth, the kittens were in a box in the bedroom. He would need to call Tuuri about that later. Lalli took bread and jam for breakfast, ate in the living room. Sissi meowed at him and rolled up next to him.

”Soon enough the kittens will be able to follow you up there, you know.”

It'd be another few weeks until that, but for Lalli it was soon.

”If I let you keep them that is, I still haven't made up my mind.”

Sissi meowed again and Lalli finished his breakfast. The rain had let up now and he went outside. Everything was wet. He gave the cats food, didn't need to give them any water, and went to get Poku. Gathering the cows was easy, no new bodies in the pen. The police tape was still up and he wondered how long they were going to keep it there. And... he rode closer. Mikkel had put the sign up after all. Lalli groaned. He'd need to exchange a few words with that man later.

He led the cows to the milking area, milked them and then went over to George and Mary. He checked the apples when passing by them. It would soon be time to gather those. George was back in the saddle and Mary was beaming. Lalli greeted them, then went to work gathering their cows. He slipped away before Mary started discussing something with him again. He let Poku out into the horse-pen and had lunch. Sissi was feeding her kittens and he put some food and water for her into the bedroom. As he was going to the stable to fetch Poku again a cab pulled up in the driveway. A blond person exited it and waved to Lalli. Emil. Lalli blinked, then went up to him.

”Hey?”

”Hey. I'm sorry I didn't call before showing up, but Tuuri said you didn't have a phone.”

”She's right.”

”So how are you doing? You disappeared rather suddenly during the dance.”

”Doing good”, Lalli tilted his head. ”Why are you here?”

”I'm heading back to the city tomorrow and I wanted to see you again. Shouldn't I have come here?”

”No, it's... it's okay.”

At least the city-person hadn't decided to wear a suit when coming to visit, just sneakers, jeans and a coat. Lalli started walking towards the stable again, Emil followed him.

”You know how to ride?”

”Not really”, Emil admitted. ”Is it hard?”

”I have to check on the sheep. You can wait here if you want to.”

”In... the stable?”

”The house, idiot.”

”I think I prefer that. Good luck with the sheep!”

Emil disappeared towards the house and Lalli saddled Poku, sat up and rode away. The sheep had been hiding inside their house during the last three days, but now when it no longer was raining they had dared go outside. Lalli went in to them, checked them for injurues. Safe and sound and he went back to Poku.

”We probably don't need to water the crops, right?”

Poku neighed and Lalli climbed back in the saddle and rode back to the stable. Emil was sitting in the hammock and when Lalli passed by he got out and followed him to the stable. Lalli put Poku in a box and took of the saddle and all the other things before handing Emil a brush.

”???”

”He needs to be brushed. It's not hard to do.”

He left Emil to figure it out and fetched Kirsikankukka to brush her. She ran away from him when he approached and he could swear she was laughing. He put his hands to his sides and glared at her.

”I don't have time for this!”

She neighed and ran around him. He didn't move.

”What have I done to deserve this?”

She went up to him, but when he reached to catch her she darted away again. She strotted around him again and he sighed.

”I'm sorry, okay? I'll take you out later tonight. Deal?”

She seemed satisfied and came up to him. He shook his head and led her inside.

”Why can't you be more like the other animals?” he asked as he put her in the box next to the one Emil was in.

She neighed and waited for him to start working with her fur. Lalli peeked into the other box to see how Emil was doing. Both Emil and Poku seemed way to happy with the deal and Lalli went back to Kirsikankukka. He took longer than he used to, listened as Emil talked quietly with Poku, heard him laughing when Poku tried to chew his hair. Eventually he couldn't prolong it any more and he let both horses outside again. Emil followed him back to the house and Lalli fetched a couple of beers from the fridge and then the two of them sat down on the porch.

”What do you do for fun out here?” Emil asked.

Lalli thought about what to answer. He wasn't entierly sure what constituted as fun for the other, but for him doing the work required was more than enough. He sipped his beer, watched as Viiru chased a squirrel over the yard.

”...Work”, he admitted after a while. ”You?”

”Well, the rodeo was pretty fun, we don't have those where I come from. I go to the club sometimes, or play videogames.”

There was a flipper game in the Saloon, Lalli assumed videogames was something like that. He had never gotten the hang of it.

”I also visit my cousins every now and then.”

”Mhm.”

”You're not gonna ask where I come from?”

Lalli glanced at Emil then looked away again.

”The city.”

”There are more than one city, you know. But yes, I live in the capital. The company I work for wanted to open some stores in smaller settlements so they sent me to check out the potential markets.”

Lalli nodded, didn't really know what to answer. He sipped his beer again.

”You ever been to the city?”

Lalli shook his head. He didn't have time to leave his ranch and he wasn't very interested in the busy city-life.

”You should stop by some time. I could show you around.”

”Hm... Maybe.”

”You mean that as a no. It's okay, I'm not going to force you. It's a nice place though.”

Lalli didn't answer. Emil looked at him and laughed.

”I can tell you don't believe me. Hey, Sigrun says they'll have another rodeo in the next town on saturday, you going?”

”Can't”, Lalli gestured at the farm. ”I have work.”

”Right, I was thinking about showing up if I had time, would have been fun to see you there.”

Lalli regretted having even gone to the rodeo in the first place. He used to have a quiet, lonely life, were work was the only thing happening, and after the rodeo first Reynir had visited and now Emil. Who would be next? Emil was still talking, Lalli caught the word ”school” and instantly stopped listening again. It wasn't interesting. Why did the idiot think he'd be interested in talking about schools? He leaned back and closed his eyes. Emil at least had a nice voice, there was something calm behand the apparent nervousness.

”...Do you like cats?” Lalli asked when Emil had shifted the subject ten times.

Emil stopped talking, blinked and looked at the cats that had fallen asleep around the porch.

”Yes? My uncle has one, but it's not...”

”You want one?”

”uh...”

”Sissi had kittens, I need to get rid of them.”

”I'm not sure my landlord would agree...”

”Ask. Can't give them away for another eight weeks anyway. I don't like having to kill them.”

Emil bit his lip. Lalli could see he didn't like the thought of kittens dying either.

”Have you considered neutering Sissi?”

”Yes. Maybe when the kittens are gone.”

”How many are there?”

”Four. They're in the bedroom.”

Emil looked at his beer, then got up from the hammock.

”I want to see them!”

Lalli blinked, then nodded and got up as well. He showed Emil inside, led him to the tiny bedroom. He sat down on the couch while Emil crouched next to the box with the kittens.

”They are so small! Can I take them all?”

”Be my guest.”

”Lalli, I can't, even if I wanted to. I may be able to convince my landlord to let me have one but no way they'll agree to _four_. Do you know anyone else who'd want some?”

Lalli shrugged and got up again. Emil followed him outside and to the stable.

”Where are you going?”

”Neighbours.”

He called for Kirsikankukka and she strotted up to him, followed him inside and let her saddle her. Emil watched as he worked and he could tell the blond was getting sadder by the second. Lalli couldn't understand it. He climbed up onto Kirsikankukka, waited. Emil looked at his feet, then at Lalli and then towards the road.

”I guess... I'll go back to the town then. It was nice seeing you again.”

”What are you talking about, stupid?”

”???”

”We're going over for dinner. Climb up.”

”I... I don't know how to ride.”

”You just have to hold on. Try not to fall off.”

”Err...”

Emil climbed up behind Lalli in a not so graceful way. He grabbed Lalli around the waist and some of the safety Lalli had felt during the hoedown reemerged. He quickly pushed it away before Emil could see it. When he was certain Emil wasn't going to fall off he led Kirsikankukka over to Mary and George, who waved happily at him. Mary instantly started talking with Emil and showed him around the farm while George and Lalli went to put Kirsikankukka into the stable. They all met again inside the house an hour later, Lalli and Emil helped set the table while Mary put the finishing touches on the food and George went to fetch the kids and some beer.

The dinner was far from the quiet Lalli was used to. The kids kept talking loudly, Emil tried to entertain them, George and Mary had to raise their voices to be heard over the kids. Glasses kept getting knocked over, one of the kids' plate ended up on the floor, a food fight almost broke out but George managed to stop it just as it was starting. Lalli had tried keeping up with the conversations in the beginning, even though he didn't have much to say, but had quickly fallen silent. Part of him wanted to get up and leave, retreat to his own quiet house. Maybe get some work done on the barn. But he also wanted to stay. He wanted to watch them, learn how to interact with people like they did. They all made it look so easy.

Emil smiled at him. He had the youngest kid on his back and was running around the table. Mary and George was laughing. Lalli shook his head, tried to return to the conversations instead of being lost in his own world.

”You should stay”, Mary said. ”Lords know we could use a good babysitter some days.”

”I'd be out of a job the other days though”, Emil said and let the kid down before returning to his seat.

The kids laughed and ran away, apparently done with the dinner.

”I'm sure Lalli could find use for you on his ranch”, Mary continued. ”He has way too much to do for one person, he needs to get some spare time.”

”To do what?” Lalli asked.

”You could come over here for dinner more often to start with.”

Mary smiled, didn't mean it like that. Emil laughed.

”I don't know, he seems satisfied with his job. I would probably just be in the way. And any way I enjoy life in the city, there's always stuff going on and new people to meet.”

There was something behind that sentense that Emil didn't say. Lalli glanced at him, tried to figure out what it was, but he couldn't. Mary nodded, nudged George's side.

”I keep trying to get this one to take a break a couple of days so we could see the city, but no, he's way to comfortable around here.”

”You'd hate to leave the chickens behind as well”, George said with a smile.

”True, they're like my kids. Except better behaved. Lalli, you need help with picking the apples this year as well?”

”Yeah, in a couple of weeks.”

”I'm sure the kids would love to help out. They're like two little monkeys, the best thing they know is climbing trees.”

”We'll need them to pick our apple trees as well”, George said. ”The haul isn't big this year though...”

”You can take some of mine if you need.”

”Is Elizabeth going to make jam of them this year as well?”

Elizabeth was a woman in town. Lalli didn't know her very well, but every year he gave her some of his apples and she made jam for him. Mary had set it up for him. Elizabeth didn't want any payment for it, although Lalli had offered, saying she just enjoyed the process. He had managed to get her to keep a few jars for herself and he had seen her selling off other homemade fruitstuff at the farmer's market. Lalli nodded.

”Have I met her?” Emil asked.

”She was at the rodeo”, Mary answered. ”Left before the hoedown though, said she had a lot of things to do.”

”I probably missed her then.”

George disappeared into the basement and returned with icecream. Lalli declined, but the kids came rushing back. George poured some coffee for himself and Lalli. Mary spent most of the dessert telling Emil about the Farmers' market. About all the animals that got traded and sold, about all the different things one could find in the stalls. She asked Lalli if he'd be selling honey again, but Lalli shook his head. He had decided to keep it for himself this year, maybe give Mary and George some as thanks for letting him store anything that needed freezing at their farm.

”I made some yarn from the wool you gave us by the way”, Mary continued. ”It's pretty rough this year but it can probably be used for something. Did you want it or should I give it to Åsa and Karl?”

”Give it to them if you want to, I have everything I need.”

”I've heard wool is good for keeping snails away from the gardens”, George muttered.

”If I had more sheep I might try that”, Lalli confessed, ”but I don't get enough.”

”Check the market for a few more sheep”, Mary suggested. ”There's bound to be some there. Knowing you there'd be no problem at all introducing them to the ones you already have.”

”I'd have to make the sheep pen bigger then though. Already planning to make the cow pen larger. The new barn will be done next year.”

”How many will you be able to host?”

”Around 100, but won't get that many for another couple of years.”

Lalli glanced at Emil, momentarily worried that they were boring him with their talk about the farms, but Emil was deep in conversation with the kids. Lalli shook his head and continued the conversation with George and Mary. When they had finished eating their icecream the kids disappeared again. Lalli checked the clock, noticed that they had been there a lot longer than he had planned and frowned. No working on the barn today, he'd have to double his efforts tomorrow. Maybe he could ask Onni to come over and help him someday. He looked towards Emil, who also checked the clock.

”...wow, time sure flies! I still need to pack my stuff back at the hotel.” He glanced at Mary. ”You have a phone I could borrow to call for a cab or something?”

”Don't be silly”, Mary laughed. ”We'll give you a ride back. We need to change a few words with Derek anyway.”

George got up from his chair and started gathering the dishes, Lalli decided to help out. They left Emil and Mary in the dining room while washing the plates, glasses and everything. Neither of them talked, both of them content with just doing what they were supposed to. Lalli put the plates away and George turned to him.

”You'll be alright going home alone?”

Lalli raised an eyebrow.

”I always go home alone.”

”Yeah, but you sure you're ready to say good bye to your friend?”

”That's none of your business. Either way we just met.”

”Some bonds are tied within seconds”, George laughed. ”But I won't stick my nose where it's not wanted. You want help with Kirsi?”

Lalli shook his head. George shrugged and they went back to the dining room, waited for Emil and Mary to get up as well. George yelled to the kids that they'd have to handle the farm alone for a couple of hours and then they all went outside. Lalli followed them to the car.

”I'll write to you”, Emil promised. ”And if I get time to spare I might come visit again, if that's okay with you.”

”You need to come for the cat.”

Emil laughed.

”That's true, I'll come over when my cat is ripe for harvesting.”

Lalli gave a slight smile, then waved good bye. Mary, George and Emil got into the car, a large truck where they could fit lots of stuff for the markets. Lalli waved after them, then went to the stable to fetch Kirsikankukka. Perhaps stuff would return to normal now.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will have a POV-shift because eurgh. Let's see how wel I handle that!


	8. In which the story suddenly turns into a crime novel because the author doesn't know what direction to go

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The case of the bodies dumped on Lalli's ranch has Mikkel stumped, but he knows that somehow they'll solve it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got insecure about the direction I was taking this story because something a person said made me believe I'm not allowed to do that since I didn't know that the word "bear" could also mean "big strong hairy man". So we're taking a break from Lalli this chapter to follow Mikkel!

Mikkel wiped his hands clean. One of his gloves had ruptured while he was digging around in the latest victim from Lalli's farm, but he was ninety-eight percent certain he had managed to not contaminate the body. He checked the X-rays a fourth time, then bagged the body up and put it back into the bodyfridgerator. He took off his coat, threw it into the trash. His job certainly wasn't very clean but someone had to do it. If only he could have finished medschool like his brother.

He changed into his regular shoes and went back to his desk. There was lots of paperwork that needed to be filled, some about the new case, some about the old ones. He wanted to check in on the details of it, to see if there was any similarities between the corpses and the times they had been dumped, but his job was only to provide a detailed rapport about their injuries and then it was up to the actual police to put shit together. He let out a sigh and fiddled with a paper clip. Maybe he should have studied to become a police officer like his sister.

Every now and then he asked himself why he had ended up where he was, and today was another day like that. Cutting up corpses in a small town almost in the middle of nowhere, while his siblings were off in larger cities fighting for lives and justice and tacos. He knew why it had happened, knew why he had flunked out of med school. His sense of humour. He chuckled slightly, still had the list of ”Things Mikkel Madsen is not allowed to do” in one of his drawers. Sometimes he added stuff to it and it had grown very long by now. He leaned back in his chair and locked his eyes to the ceiling.

He wanted to suggest that they'd put up cameras around the dumping site, especially since bodies kept getting dumped there, but he knew no one would listen to him. What did he know after all. He was just the person who cut the dead people up in order to find what had killed them. He fiddled with the latest rapport. A bullet to the head had been the culprit this time. A couple of the others had gone the same way, others had been strangled or drowned. One had bled to death after having his throat cut up. The police thought they had all been killed by the same person, but why would they end so differently?

He still hadn't found the identity of the latest victim. Not that it was his work, and he had given the police the same clues he himself had to work with. He just enjoyed seeing if he could figure it out faster than they could. A lot of the times he had succeeded, other time he had come up flat. So far this one had him stumped. It could mean a lot of things but Mikkel had his suspicions. The victim was someone from one of the many secret services the country had. He couldn't tell which one yet though. If his suspicions were true that meant whoever had killed all of them was escalating their game. Previous victims had been known drug-dealers and regular citizens, with the one outliner a person who worked at a bank. He wasn't sure what this meant.

He looked at the reports again. The deaths were different, but a lot of the violence they had been suspected to pre-death was the same. Torture. Was the person(s) responsible looking for something? Were they just enjoying the thrill? He couldn't know. His bet was on looking for something, but he had seen his fair share of psycopaths who just did it for the joy. Those were always hard. Mikkel let out a sigh. Why did he allow himself to get kicked out of med-school again?

”Yo, Mikkel.”

One of the police officers. Mikkel stopped looking at the papers and looked at her instead.

”Lalli's in for questioning again, figgered you'd like to listen in.”

”Yes, thank you”, he got up from the chair. ”The usual room I assume?”

”Yeah, room 15. Captain Andersen will also be there so behave or you'll be forbidden to enter the station again.”

She disappeared and Mikkel took his coat, went towards room 15. Lalli was sitting in the chair already, no one had gone in there yet. He stopped outside the door, looked at the cowboy. Would he be able to kill someone? Mikkel didn't doubt that, there was something about him. He knew Trond had the same opinion, which was why he kept Lalli as the main suspect. That, and they hadn't found anyone else yet. But would Lalli have been able to kill the people they had found? Mikkel was certain he wouldn't. Lalli had his hands in his lap, his eyes rested on the one-way mirror Mikkel knew the others were behind. He was calm. He was always calm. Most people weren't that calm when the police took them in.

He stopped staring at Lalli and made his way to the room next to it, where the others were waiting. Usually he wouldn't be welcome here, but every now and then they wanted him there for him to quicker confirm injuries the questioned person admitted to. Trond nodded to him and he nodded back, found a free spot in the back of the room. Lalli was still staring at them through the mirror. Really staring. Mikkel could tell it was making one of the younger policemen anxious. He smirked. There was no way Lalli could actually see them through the mirror, there was nothing to feel anxious about. Two of the policemen, an elderly couple Mikkel hadn't talked much with, left the room to start the interrogation. Mikkel only knew them as ”The Eides”.

The Eides were famous through the station, probably also the town. Mikkel hadn't had much to do with them but from what little he had interracted with them he had concluded that ”chaotic” was the only word to describe them. The woman seemed calm and collected and like the one who kept the man under control, but Mikkel knew better, he had seen the two of them rile each other up, had seen the man having to hold the woman back. He was a little worried about Lalli's safety, he had to admit that. He didn't say it out loud. He had heard about the Eides' proficiency in the interrogation room and he would not question the captains decicion to send them in. If anything would convince him of Lalli's innocence it was this.

Mikkel wasn't supposed to decide whether or not the suspect were innocent, that was for the police, and most of the time he didn't. It didn't matter much to him, because why would it? But for some reason, when it came to Lalli he had made up his mind. Of course, Lalli's cold demeanor when looking at the bodies didn't help him convince his workmates of Lalli's innocence, but the demeanor wasn't like someone who had done the deed, it was that of someone who had seen it too much and had learnt to treat it like just another day. Who had forced themselves to learn that because otherwise they'd break. Mikkel had seen a lot of those people during his years within the police. It worked, for a while, but sooner or later the the walls people had built up always crumbled. One day they'd probably break for him as well.

”I was at the rodeo”, Lalli said.

His voice was matter of fact, simple, but also had an underlying whisper showing his disdain for the questions and how the police was doing their work. Mikkel loved watching these interrogations.

”Do you have anyone who can vouch for you?”

”Everyone who was there. But good luck finding them, some were from out of town.”

”You better give us their phone numbers so we can contact them.”

”Why would I have their phone numbers when I don't even own a phone?”

”When did you return home?”

”You'll have to ask Reynir. I was a little drunk.”

”And this Reynir, who is he?”

”Some type of guitarist. He was at the rodeo and then followed me home.”

”When did he leave?”

”Sometime after dinner.”

Mikkel walked closer to the mirror. Lalli was still sitting with his hands in his lap, no longer staring at the mirror, but not really looking at the Eides either. Mikkel tried to figure out what Lalli was looking at, but there wasn't anything in particular in the room.

Interrogation room number 15 was the smallest interrogation room. They put the toughest nuts to crack in there, hoping they'd be intimidated because the cops would seem bigger in there than in the other rooms, hoping that they'd feel trapped and claustrophobic and finally admit to what they were accused of just to get out of the room. It worked sometimes, depending on which cop you sent inside. Trond didn't work in there, he was intimidating in a way that didn't require a small room. The Eides were usually a pretty good choice, Mikkel would have been excellent as well if he had worked as a cop. One of the young policemen, a small, thin thing, worked surpricingly well in there as well. Mikkel leaned against the table next to the mirror, looked at the walls. They were gray, no decorations or anything. Lalli wasn't looking at that. He wasn't looking at the door either, because that was in another direction. Mikkel let out a sigh and moved back again. It wasn't surprising that Trond kept suspecting Lalli.

”He will crack any second now”, Trond said.

”He won't and you know it”, Mikkel answered.

One of the Eides had gotten up from the chair, grabbed Lalli. Lalli just stared at her, in a most uninterested way. Mikkel wasn't sure what he had missed.

”I know it's him, I just need one tiny piece of evidence...”

”Like a gun hidden in his toolshed?” Mikkel suggested.

”Like a gun hidden in his toolshed”, Trond confirmed. ”But the judge won't grant us a warrant without anything suggesting it was Lalli.”

”You'd think the bodies being dumped on his lands would be a dead giveaway.”

Mikkel almost snrkted at his wording, but managed to refrain. Trond gave him one of _those_ glances and he knew he was dangerously close to the line. Eide let go of Lalli again and Lalli fixed his shirt and then rested his hands in his lap again.

Lalli didn't have any gun registered to his name, but Mikkel knew just how easy it was to come across unlicensed guns. It wasn't out of the realms of possibility. Lalli could very well be their culprit, at least judging from the lack of evidence the police was suffering from. Mikkel scoffed, put his hands in his pockets. He kind of wished the judge would just sign the warrant already so the cops would learn what Mikkel already suspected.

One of the Eides looked towards the mirror. It was hard work interrogating someone when you didn't have much to go on and the person didn't supply you with stuff you could accuse them of. Mikkel shook his head and went to the door.

”Heading back downstairs.”

He left the police quarters. They didn't need him and the show was over and he had work to do. He took out everything about the first victim again. A somewhat olderly member of one of the larger gangs around the town. Horrible beaten, then shot through the head. Found on the farm two years earlier.

The second victim was from the same gang, found three months after the first. Also horrible beaten and then shot through the head.

Third victim, a civilian from what the police could tell. Had worked as a school teacher. Horrible beaten and shot through the head. Had been found one year ago.

Fourth victim, found two weeks after the third. Member of another gang, badly beaten and then strangled with his own belt.

All victims dumped during the night on Lalli's ranch. No clues as to where they had been prior to that. No clues that they had found. Mikkel looked at the first victim again.

Male, 45-50 years old. From the town, but no one recognized him. Mikkel had seen him a couple of times, but had never spoken with him and had never seen him interact with anyone. A lot of people said the same thing. No one had tried interacting with the man either, but everyone could remember his eyes, could remember that _there was something about them_ , something terrifying, but no one could say anything more than that. His feet had been broken, his soles repeatedly beaten with what he suspected was an iron rod. If he hadn't know that method of torture had featured on the television he would have suspected the culprit to be someone with connections to the war. The television always did everything harder. There were other fractures in his body as well, some of them old, a sign of the tough life on the street he had lived, others fresh and a sign of what he went through before he died. Broken ribs, fractures to his wrists. He had been tied up. The bruising around his wrist suggested something other than the regular ropes. Both of his palms had been cut open, his fingers had been burned to prevent them from getting finger prints. There had been a broken needle tip beneath one of his nails. Just a regular needle, clean from everything except his blood.

They had tried matching his DNA to anyone, but no one had come up. He had never been caught by the police before. They only knew what gang he belonged to because of a burnmark on his lower back. Old, but the scarring was still visible. He had been with them for quite some time, but no one in the gang admitted to knowing him, no one even said a name. Except Old Alfredo, but that had turned out to be someone else, a 65-year old woman who they went to for tea and biscuits. There was no connection between her and the victim.

Had he missed something? He couldn't re-examine the body, it had been cremated. He got up, took out the new body again. Male, around 35 years old. No gang-marks on his body, so he must have been a civilian. His feet also broken by something repeatedly beating against his soles, his palms cut open. The edges of the cut suggested a very sharp blade and someone who knew exactly what they were doing. The question was why, but that wasn't Mikkel's division. He checked the bullet wounds again. One bullet through the forehead and out at the back. A surprisingly clean entrance wound. Maybe specially made bullets. He didn't know. The bullet had been placed exactly to the center of the forehead. Did it signify something? A very methodical killer, someone without remorse, someone who had done this before and knew exactly what they were doing. A man or a woman? It could be both, but when women used guns it was rarely this clean, it was mostly spur of the moment and accidents. Mostly.

He checked the victim's wrists. Also bruised and fractured. He had been tied up prior to his death. It wasn't news by now. He checked the X-rays again. Tiny fractures around the shoulders. Mikkel stared at them, certain they could tell him _something_ , but what? How had the victim been tied up? Arms to the front or the back? Not the front, that barely put any stress on the shoulder joints. The back? Mikkel held his own hands to his lower back, simulated being tied up. A little worse but bad enough? He lifted his hands above his head, then took them down, examined the victim's shoulders closer. Perhaps...

Five minutes later he was back at his desk, fumbled at the phone. The young cop Lalli had made nervous earlier answered.

”The were hung”, Mikkel said before the other could say anything.

”Wha-?”

”The victims found on the ranch were hung”, Mikkel repeated.

”...Wasn't they shot?”

”What? Yes, they were, why are you talking about that? They were tied up around the wrists and suspended from the ceiling.”

”How do you-”

”The shoulders. We were so busy with the palms and the deaths I didn't look closely enough earlier. Someone hung them up like slaughtered pigs.”

”Hm...”

The policeman was thinking about something, Mikkel didn't know what. He waited.

”...Do you think Lalli is strong enough to do that?”

”Of course he isn't, the heaviest victim was close to 330 pounds.”

”...He could have used the horse.”

Mikkel rolled his eyes.

”Yes, I assume in light of these recent findings he could have built a complicated rig to hoist the victims to the ceiling with his horse and then dismantled it before we arrived there.”

”I knew it!” the youngling sounded too happy and satisfied and Mikkel groaned. ”I'm going to tell Captain Trond right away. Thank you for letting us know!”

The call ended. Mikkel stared at the phone. Had he somehow ended up giving them what they needed to get a warrant, had he given them more reason to suspect Lalli? He facepalmed. Trond and the judge probably wouldn't count this as compelling evidence against Lalli, but the youngling really wanted to prove his worth, he'd follow this trail.

He had only met the young cop a few times, passed him by in the corridors and exchanged the regular pleasantries in the breakroom one time when Mikkel had dared go in there. The young cop's name was Oscar Amundsen, he had graduated about three months ago and was most of time time stuck on desk duty, something he hated. Mikkel sympathised with it, but it was normal. One year of desk duty before getting out on the field. A rule made up in order to fight corruption within the police force but Mikkel wasn't sure it was working. If anything it probably did more harm than good. With Oscar though it was a god rule, the young cop was still too nervous to be released on the streets, but with the right guidance he'd be fit for duty when his time at the desk came to an end. Oscar had a mother and a father living in the city, his grandparents lived on the other side of the country and he had a sibling in the capital. That was all Mikkel knew about him. He never learned much about the cops, except the ones he worked close with on cases. As close as he was allowed at least. It was starting to seem that Oscar was the one he'd work with for this case.

Mikkel tapped the desk, then got up again. He took out the second-to-last victim, put them next to the latest victim. A female, 20 years. The cuts in the palms looked exactly the same. She was a Jane Doe, just like the others. She had sculptured features, like taken from a fashion magazine, but she hadn't worked as a modell, they had contacted every agency in the surrounding area. Her forehead was intakt, instead she had been killed with an injection of a substance they hadn't been able to pinpoint. Something new that hadn't been marketed, that hadn't been used in previous murders. Had the murderer wanted to preserve her looks? Did she have a connection to the one who had murdered and tortured her? Her shoulders had the same injuries as the Joe Doe, the fractures slightly larger as she didn't have as much muscles to hold her up. No gang mark, but there was a tattoo on her left ankle. A single rose. Very standard when it came to tattooes, but it must have meant something to her. Mikkel wished he had studied more psycology.

On the television the cops could find someone from a small detail like this, but this was real life. They had tried, gods know they had, but so far the only explanation was that she had gotten it from a friend or someone, not any of the tattoo parlours that existed nearby. If stuff continued like this they'd need to call in reinforcements from the state. He hoped they wouldn't need, but it was getting stupidly frustrating. He crossed his arms and stared at the two victims. If he stared long enough, maybe they'd talk to him, tell him what he couldn't see with his own eyes. Maybe he needed to view it all from a different angle, maybe he needed a new set of eyes to look at it. He must be missing something.

He closed the bags up again and laughed for himself. Maybe the victims weren't from the mob, maybe it was a secret government agency who deleted all records of the victims while keeping them in a cellar somewhere. Maybe they had stumbled into something big, something secret. Maybe they had stumbled into the government's attempts at the magic-thing he had heard whispers about. He laughed again, put the victims in the bodyfridgerator and turned off the lights. Tomorrow he'd look at it with fresh eyes. Maybe he could see something new, maybe he would see something old but get new insight from it. Maybe the others would go to Lalli's farm to search for the place were he allegedly hung the victims. Maybe he'd be allowed to come with them.

He grabbed his coat and left the building. That was tomorrow, today he had a date.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got insecure, but a week later I'm not as insecure so next chapter is back to Lalli again!
> 
> Also yes (not that anyone asked), The Eides are indeed Sigrun's parents. They're cops! They're very good cops, Lalli is just a very tough nut to crack.  
> (Sigrun is not a cop, at least not yet, who knows what the future brings!)


	9. In which the police visits Lalli again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With the warrant secured the police stomps in on Lalli's ranch to finally gather proof against him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter this time since by now you all know how Lalli's days look and it'd be stupid to repeat everything.

This was stupid. Lalli stared at the warrant the police officer had handed him. They were searching for hooks and a contraption to... hang people from? Lalli shook his head.

”Just don't disturb the animals.”

And a gun, he noticed as he looked closer. He made a move to go to the stable so he could continue his work, but they stopped him. It was a good thing he had already milked the cows earlier in the morning.

”You have to stay here with us, so you won't run away in case we need to arrest you.”

Lalli glared at the policeman, heard Mikkel laughing a bit further away. He crossed his arms over his chest, watched as the police entered the barn.

”You really thing I'd kill people in _there_?” Lalli called after them.

”You do your job and we'll do ours”, Trond answered gleefully.

”You won't let me do my job though”, Lalli muttered.

Trond didn't hear him. Lalli uncrossed his arms and looked towards the roof of the barn. His eyes widened and he pulled away from the officer who was watching him, ran into the barn. The ceiling was budging, he could see the cracks forming. It had threatened to give way the whole summer, of course it would choose the day the police were there.

”Don't go there!” he called.

They were so close to the cracking ceiling, if it broke it would fall ontop of them. Lalli couldn't remember what was stored up there. They didn't listen.

”The roof's about to fall!” he tried.

They laughed. He could hear it cracking above them and rushed towards them, escaping just as the officer was going to grab him. There was another crack, and one more. Most of them had moved away, taken cover inside the boxes on the sides but there was still one policeman left. Lalli rushed towards him, tackled him. They slid over the floor, hit the wall.

CRACK

The ceiling broke. Large rocks fell from it, hit the ground and rolled a little before stopping. Everyone stared at the pile of rocks, Lalli's breathing was quick. He got up to his feat, glared at he police he had pushed out of the way.

”I told you not to go there.”

He looked at the hole as the polices crawled to their feet and carefully got out from the boxes. He'd have to fix that so he could store the hay up there. Why had he let the rocks stay there instead of finding a better place to put them? Like the empty box in the stable. He could only blame the author. The police all stared at him, but he strutted out again. Captain Trond yelled at them to get back to work and Mikkel came up to Lalli.

”You know that'd look like a trap you set up for them.”

”They were the ones who didn't listen.”

”Indeed, but they really want you to be the culprit.”

”But I ddin't do anything!”

”We don't have anything better yet.”

Lalli hmphed, watched as the police looked through his barn, then the stable, then the house. They had been kind enough to not walk all over his vegetable gardens at least. They didn't find anything. Of course they didn't. Except for the hook he used to get hay to the upper floor in the barn.

”No blood”, Mikkel called after having examined it with a cotton stick.

”Maybe he wiped it clean”, Trond said and glared at Lalli.

”Nah, there are years of other stuff on this thing.”

”...would there even be blood on it?” one of the policemen asked.

”Everyone and their mothers have hooks around here”, Lalli said and Trond grunted.

”He's right, a hook isn't enough evidence for anything.”

”Except that you don't clean your equipment very often”, Mikkel whispered to Lalli.

Lalli rolled his eyes and put the hook back where it belonged. He watched as the policemen talked with each other, probably in an attempt to figure out what to do next. He just wanted them to leave so he could get back to work.

”We will solve this case”, Mikkel said.

”Doesn't seem like it”, Lalli muttered.

Trond yelled for Mikkel to come and the police drove off again. Lalli let out a sigh and went to the stable. Next time he found a body he'd just skip calling it in.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lalli may blame the author for the rocks, but the author blames one of their friends who told them that what would happen next was "Rocks fall, everybody dies". No one died though!


End file.
